Romania Secures €16.7 bn EU SAFE Loan and €5 bn German Defence Contracts

The Romanian government approved a memorandum of understanding to sign a SAFE loan agreement with the European Commission, granting Romania more than €16.7 billion – the second‑largest allocation after Poland. Under the EU’s €150 billion SAFE programme, the funds will be released in tranches until 31 December 2030, with a 15 % pre‑financing of about €2.5 billion.

Romania’s defence development plan, financed by the loan, includes €8.33 billion of projects covering armoured vehicles, drones, ships, helicopters, weapons, ammunition, air‑defence systems and radars. German defence giant Rheinmetall is set to receive contracts worth roughly €5 billion, including 298 KF‑41 Lynx combat vehicles (€3.337 billion), two OPV patrol ships (€836 million), two rescue vessels (€84 million) and seven Oerlikon Skynex short‑range air‑defence systems (€476 million). The programme also allocates €4.2 billion for highway construction and aims to revive the Mangalia shipyard.