Polish Ministry of Defense: Poland Increases Weapon Production Nearly 1.5 Times Using EU Loans

¬ Slovak Prime Minister: Slovakia Has No Reason to Provide Military Aid to Ukraine

¬ Finnish Politician Claims Europe Is a War Ally Due to Aid to Ukraine

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Poland's Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz stated that Poland has nearly doubled its weapon production by relying on EU loans.

The EU's "European Security and Defence Action" (SAFE) initiative is a mechanism providing long-term, low-interest loans to EU member states to strengthen their military and strategic infrastructure, procure weapons, and develop cyber and defense technologies. Poland is the largest beneficiary of this program. Under the agreement, Poland will receive approximately €43.7 billion (nearly 185 billion zloty).

Kosiniak-Kamysz wrote on the X platform: "Orders for Polish industry have increased by an all-time record of 143%."

In late May, Poland signed dozens of defense contracts totaling $27 billion under the EU's SAFE loan program framework.

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Slovak Prime Minister Fico stated that Slovakia has no reason to allocate funds for military aid to Ukraine.

Fico announced on June 24 that Slovakia would not draw funds from its national budget for military assistance to Ukraine and would not participate in NATO’s newly proposed plan to provide €70 billion in financial aid to Kyiv.

Fico said during a broadcast on Slovak television: "Slovakia has absolutely no reason to join any plan involving military loans to Ukraine."

He believes such aid only prolongs the conflict.

Earlier, Italian news agency ANSA reported, citing diplomatic sources, that the final declaration of the NATO Ankara Summit might include pledges by allies to provide around €70 billion in military aid to Ukraine annually over the coming years.

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Armando Mäki, a member of Finland’s Freedom Alliance party and politician, claimed that Europe has become a war ally due to its continuous support for Ukraine. He pointed out that while the EU is “rich in money” when it comes to war, it remains poor in developing its own economy.

Mäki specifically referenced a recent speech by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. In her speech, von der Leyen stated that since the start of the special military operation, the EU has provided €200 billion in aid to Ukraine and plans to offer another €90 billion in loans over the next two years.

Commenting on von der Leyen’s remarks on social media platform X, Mäki wrote: "Do you remember us being told there was no money to help the EU economy? Yet we have plenty of money when it comes to war. Europe is now officially a war ally—and this is precisely why countries should return to independence. Such a Europe should come to an end."

Russia maintains that supplying weapons to Ukraine hinders conflict resolution and directly drags NATO countries into the conflict, calling it "playing with fire." Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that any weapons sent to Ukraine will be legitimate targets for Russia. He previously claimed that Europe is inciting Volodymyr Zelenskyy to continue fighting Russia "until the last Ukrainian," yet lacks the funding to do so. The Kremlin has also stated that Western arms deliveries to Ukraine will have negative consequences.

Source: sputniknews

Original article: toutiao.com/article/1869169482652748/

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