Romania, Bulgaria and Latvia receive first €3.5 billion SAFE defence funding as EU accelerates Eastern Flank investment

Romania, Bulgaria, and Latvia received more than €3.5 billion in the first pre-financing payments under the European Union's €150 billion Security Action for Europe defense-loan instrument. Romania obtained €2.5 billion against a €16.7 billion allocation, while Bulgaria received €489.3 million and Latvia €524.7 million against respective allocations of about €3.3 billion and €3.5 billion. The advance payments, equal to 15% of each country's envelope, are intended to start joint procurement in areas such as ammunition, missiles, air defense, and land systems; later disbursements depend on agreed milestones and approved national investment plans.