00:01The European Commission has opened a new round of low-interest defense loans and is urging member states to spend
00:08them on joint ventures with Ukraine, as Kiev faces a 70 billion euros budget gap.
00:15On Thursday, 21.3 billion euros of unspent funding under the Security Action for Europe, SAFE, was made available, with
00:24the Commission hoping to steer some of it towards Ukraine.
00:27This will further support our member states to address urgent defense needs, and we encourage them to use these remaining
00:35funds in ways that can help meet Ukraine's urgent needs.
00:39Some figures about SAFE's success. So far, 19 member states have requested more than 130 billion euros so far. All
00:48national plans have been approved by the Commission.
00:51We have already signed 16 loan agreements out of these 19 plans, and 11 member states have already received pre
00:59-financing worth more than 13 billion euros.
01:03SAFE was created to help the EU countries urgently boost their defense capabilities and industrial output in response to Russia's
01:11war of aggression against Ukraine and growing doubts over U.S. security guarantees during Donald Trump's second term.
01:18Several member states, most notably Italy, Hungary and France, borrowed far less than anticipated.
01:26That left a pot of unspent money, which the Commission has now reopened through a second round of calls running
01:33until November the 13th.
01:36Thank you very much.
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