EU Commission still waiting on military lending proposals ahead of midnight deadline
EU countries have until midnight on Tuesday to express their interest in taking loans from the €150 billion SAFE funding mechanism to the Commission, and to break down how much exactly they are willing to borrow.
In an interview with Euractiv last week, EU Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius gave a 'very conservative evaluation' of 'around 20 member states' willing to take up loans.
The Commission remains "confident" that the number of countries joining the SAFE lending programme will "quite impressively increase".
The Commission's list currently includes Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Spain, Finland, Hungary, and Lithuania, a spokesperson told reporters on Tuesday.
Euractiv previously reported that France, Ireland, Poland, Romania, Greece, Italy, Latvia, and Portugal were also interested.
In June, Polish Minister of State Assets Jakub Jaworowski told Euractiv that Poland would request €25 billion in loans. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Monday that Athens would submit a proposal on Tuesday, requesting "at least" €1.2 billion.
Latecomers could still be considered after Tuesday, which only marks an 'initial soft deadline', according to the Commission. A 'full list' of interested countries will be published on Wednesday.
(bts, aw)
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