Hungary’s €5.4 billion defense proposal won European Commission approval Oct. 28 and moved to the Council of the European Union, where it still needs a separate decision. The Commission’s review of first-round plans is complete, but its endorsement does not approve a final loan or trigger payment.
Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier said officials would contact member states during 2026 about funds left in the program. He said the next call would be open to every EU member state, including governments outside the initial group of participants. That would allow countries that sat out the first round to seek access to the remaining loans. No date has been announced for the call or for the Council’s consideration of Hungary’s plan.
Security Action for Europe, or SAFE, uses EU borrowing to provide member states with as much as €150 billion in long-term loans for defense investment. The program is designed to support joint procurement. Council guidance says purchases generally must involve at least two participating countries, with limited exceptions. Governments receiving SAFE financing must repay it.
Nineteen national plans were submitted in the first round. Council decisions from Feb. 11 through April 10, 2026, approved funding for 18 member states. Hungary’s plan was the remaining proposal awaiting the Commission’s assessment, which Regnier said was now complete.
A 2025 Council regulation permits another call by Dec. 31, 2026, if funds remain after the initial decisions. It sets June 30, 2027, as the deadline for adopting SAFE implementing decisions. The program gives member states access to loans for defense spending while leaving repayment obligations with the governments that borrow.
