Latvia and 17 other European Union (EU) Member States have requested €127 billion in loans from the newly created Security Action Fund for Europe (SAFE), the European Commission (EC) announced on Wednesday.

Poland has requested almost a third, or €45 billion, of the total.

The SAFE, which is to receive €150 billion from the EU budget, is the main mechanism to boost arms purchases to rearm Europe in the face of the growing Russian threat.

SAFE will make cheaper loans available to EU Member States.

So far, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain and Belgium have requested funds.

Applications can still be submitted until November and Brussels expects the total amount requested to increase further.

 

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