Canada has joined the European Union’s SAFE program. It is the first non-EU country involved in the bloc’s defense and equipment financing worth 150 billion euros.
Canada reached an agreement with the European Union to join the SAFE (Security Action for Europe) defense program worth 150 billion euros. Two EU diplomats confirmed this for the Politico portal on Monday, and European Commissioner for Defense Andrius Kubilius also spoke about the successful negotiations, writes TASR.
Canada will become the first country outside the European Union to formally join the bloc’s flagship joint procurement initiative for military equipment. The breakthrough came after months of technically demanding negotiations, and Canadian companies will also be able to participate in the project. The SAFE program was presented by the European Commission in the spring. It is a specialized instrument for defense loans worth 150 billion euros, which is supposed to help finance the purchase of military equipment for EU countries and some partner states.
At the same time, according to Politico, Brussels will strengthen the credibility of the program by acquiring a partner from the G7 group, which should support long-term planning of defense capacities and the development of the European arms industry. Similar negotiations with Britain collapsed last Friday. The agreement with Canada comes at a time when all 19 EU member countries, including Slovakia, which applied for loans under SAFE, have already submitted their national investment plans. According to Kubilius, fifteen of them also included support for Ukraine in these plans.
