EU defence commissioner says he expects a lot of loan requests from member states under €150bn programme

A €150bn (£126bn) loans programme to rearm Europe that was finalised this week could be “a very important breakthrough” in the EU’s military support for Ukraine, the bloc’s defence commissioner has said.

Andrius Kubilius, a former prime minister of Lithuania who is the EU’s first defence commissioner, said he expected a lot of member states to request EU-backed loans under the €150bn Security Action for Europe (SAFE) scheme, which was approved on Wednesday.

The European Commission proposed the €150bn loans alongside flexibilities in the bloc’s fiscal rules as part of a €800bn rearmament plan, which was hastily drawn up after Donald Trump’s decision to suspend all US military aid to Ukraine.