European countries continue to discuss ways to financially support Ukraine’s defense industry through the SAFE mechanism; however, they have not yet reached a consensus on providing a significant reparations loan to Ukraine.
This is reported by Business • Media
Positions of EU Countries on the SAFE Loan Program
European Commissioner for Defense Andrius Kubilius, during the Berlin Global Dialogue, urged EU states to allocate part of the funds from the SAFE loan program, which amounts to 150 billion euros, to meet the needs of the Ukrainian defense industry. Several European countries have already confirmed their readiness to support Kyiv within this initiative by utilizing the relevant loans.
At the same time, the European Union has not reached an agreement on another large-scale financial instrument—a reparations loan of 140 billion euros, which was planned to be funded by frozen Russian assets. In particular, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever opposed this initiative during the EU Council meeting, as a significant portion of these assets is concentrated in Brussels, and the country fears possible corresponding actions from the Russian Federation.
“The EU is not yet ready to take the unprecedented step of using frozen Russian assets, as significant work needs to be done to minimize legal risks,” emphasized former Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib.
Possible Solutions and Next Steps for the EU
The European Commission stated that it is working on ways to overcome Belgium’s concerns; however, consensus has not yet been achieved. For her part, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who currently holds the EU presidency, expressed support for the idea of a reparations loan and expressed hope that a decision on this would be made by December of this year.
The European Commission also assured that the EU plans to address Ukraine’s financial needs for 2026-2027 by developing new mechanisms for utilizing frozen Russian assets. It is worth noting that since the beginning of the full-scale war, EU partners have already provided Ukraine with financial assistance totaling 177.5 billion euros.