The European Commissioner for Defense and Space, Andrius Kubilius, announced this Saturday the granting to Spain of a loan of 1 billion euros intended for the purchase of military equipment, within the framework of the SAFE instrument, as the European Commission advanced earlier this year.
"Today we have signed a loan agreement of 1 billion euros with Spain under the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) for the rapid scaling up of Spanish defense capabilities and preparedness," Kubilius informed in a social media post.
The community official defended this decision as a significant milestone in the strategy to strengthen the southern flank of the European Union. "A key step to achieve a stronger and safer South and Mediterranean region of Europe," he assured.
The announcement comes after the European Commission approved in January the first package of loans for joint purchases of military material through SAFE, initially aimed at eight member states, including Spain. "The others (countries) will join shortly after," explained then the President of the Community Executive, Ursula von der Leyen, who urged the Council to greenlight these programs "to allow for a rapid disbursement."
The initiative moved forward "after a rigorous evaluation" of national defense investment plans, which opened the door to a first batch of long-term, low-cost loans aimed at helping these countries to "urgently strengthen their military preparedness and acquire the modern defense equipment they need."
The amounts assigned to each state were provisionally determined last September, following criteria of solidarity and transparency. In this distribution, Spain received the 1 billion requested, placing it among the smallest allocations of the fund, a position it shares with Finland, also with 1 billion, and only ahead of Denmark (46.7 million) and Greece (787 million).