“It is a pivotal moment in the history of Poland as well as the European Union,” declared Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk during the signing of the agreement. “Poland will be safer in these difficult and high-risk times,” he added.
As the most populous country in the eastern flank of NATO, Poland is the alliance’s country that allocates the most defense spending as a percentage of its GDP, at 4.8%.
The European Union Security Action For Europe (SAFE) program, established in 2025, provides 150 billion euros in preferential loans to finance common projects in defense, the purchase of weapons or ammunition, and the development of critical infrastructure.
With a budget of 43.7 billion euros, Poland is the primary beneficiary of the program, designed for European countries seeking to strengthen their defense industry to counter the Russian threat and the risk of disengagement from the United States.
“This is also the day when Europe shows that it has learned the lessons of history and is ready to take on a much larger responsibility for our security,” commented Donald Tusk.
/2026/05/08/69fdc3b18d8c9839728845.jpg "American writer and journalist Philip Caputo, a key witness to the Vietnam War, has died at the age of 84")
