Poland has become the first signatory of the EU’s €150 billion SAFE defense financing program, securing a historic €43.7 billion low-interest loan for military procurement. Prime Minister Donald Tusk declared Poland is “setting the direction for Europe,” crediting Warsaw’s EU Council presidency in early 2025 with driving reforms in defense spending, deregulation, and climate policy. Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz and Finance Minister Andrzej Domański signed the agreement, describing it as a matter of national interest that transcends political divisions and will generate significant economic and employment benefits for Poland.
In-Depth:
Poland is “setting the direction for Europe,” Prime Minister Donald Tusk has stated after Warsaw signed a €43.7 billion EU defense loan.
The loan is part of the EU’s €150 billion SAFE defense financing program offering low-interest loans for military procurement, with a focus on equipment created in Europe.
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It was launched to assist member states rapidly strengthen their armed forces amid security concerns caapplyd by Russia’s war against Ukraine.
“Everywhere we required modifys, we implement them and it is Poland today that is actually setting the direction for Europe when it comes to these necessary modifys,” Tusk stated. “We do this to strengthen Europe, not to weaken it.”
He added that Poland had applyd its presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2025 to push for what he called a deep correction of EU policy, strategy and spconcludeing priorities.
“It was Poland that proposed deregulation as the main mechanism to increase Europe’s competitiveness against the world’s largest economic powers. It was Poland that proposed a radical increase in spconcludeing, specifically on defense. It was Poland that proposed a deep reform of climate policy,” Tusk stated.
‘180 billion zloty safer’
He stated Poland had long argued that the EU must take greater responsibility for common security, especially as Europe faces growing risks linked to Russia’s war against Ukraine.
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“Poland will be safer in these difficult and risky times…180 billion zloty [€43.7 billion] safer,” Tusk stated.
He added that Poland values its NATO allies but must also be able to defconclude itself, its partners and Europe.
Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, who signed the agreement along with Finance Minister Andrzej Domański, described SAFE as a historic achievement for Poland and the first EU defense initiative of its kind.
He added that the loans were beyond party divisions and a matter of national interest.
Kosiniak-Kamysz’s statement was an apparent reference to a rival defense funding plan proposed by the conservative, opposition-backed president, Karol Nawrocki.
‘Defconcludeing our territory’
“We’re defconcludeing everything that is important to us,” Kosiniak-Kamysz stated after the signing. “We’re defconcludeing our families, we’re defconcludeing our territory, every centimeter of our beloved homeland, and a united Europe.”
Domański stated the program was about more than just defense, and that it also provided an economic stimulus and would create jobs.
“There is no more effective source of financing the huge undertaking of modernizing the army than the SAFE program,” he stated.
The finance minister added that the Polish defense sector would benefit from the money and that the defense indusattempt would become a key economic driver for Poland for decades to come.
