Romanian Defense Minister Ionut Mosteanu said Monday in Warsaw that he was concerned that the European arms industry would not be able to absorb the billions of euros that will result from the European Union's new SAFE initiative.
At the Warsaw Security Forum, Mosteanu said that European politicians should reduce approval times to help the defense industry absorb new orders.
On the other hand, the Romanian minister announced that new drone fragments were found on Monday in Tulcea county, bordering Ukraine.
Defense cooperation with Kiev is one of the main topics of the meeting in the Polish capital.
In March, the European Commission presented the ReARM Europe plan (shortly renamed ReARM Readiness 2030), which envisages mobilising up to 800 billion euros to equip the European Union with a ''credible deterrent'' by 2030.
The plan includes 150 billion euros in loans for the purchase of European-made military equipment, financed through the SAFE initiative. Thus, EU member states will be able to borrow to purchase European-made military equipment, and other states, such as Ukraine, for projects that strengthen their defense and stimulate the European defense industry.
Ministers from EU member states gave their final approval in May, without consulting the European Parliament. By August 20, 18 European Union countries had officially declared their interest in borrowing funds worth at least 127 billion euros through SAFE.
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