EU Offers €150 billion in Loans for European Defense

The EU announced loans available up to a total of €150 billion to bolster armaments for Europe.

At least 65% of the cost of equipment bought with these loans must be spent with suppliers in the EU, Norway or Ukraine. The remainder can be spent in non-EU countries with a security agreement, excluding the UK, USA and Turkey. The EU has defense agreements with six countries: Albania, Japan, Moldova, North Macedonia, Norway, and South Korea.

Denmark’s intelligence services warn that if Russia perceives NATO as weak, which it could in light of the USA’s turn away from its alliances, Russia may turn its expansion aims to more of Europe through war on a large scale within five years. At a recent emergency summit in Brussels, Denmark urged a target of 2030 for European rearmament.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas met with UK foreign secretary David Lammy 18 March 2025. She said she hoped for results on work toward a defense and security partnership with the UK by the time an EU-UK summit meets in May 2025.

Although there are disagreements within the bloc about details and the scope of ambitions, most of the bloc (with the main exception of Hungary) has been coalescing around a concept stated by EU defence commissioner Andrius Kubilius. He said the EU’s 450 million people “should not have to depend on 340 million Americans to defend ourselves against 140 million Russians, who cannot defeat 38 million Ukrainians. We really can do better. It’s time for us to take responsibility for the defence of Europe.”

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