It has been revealed how the Romanians and Bulgarians will be using the SAFE loan funds, but there is still no news about the Hungarian allocation

Monday, Jan 26, 2026

HVG

Romania buys defense gear like helicopters and drones for civilian protection, seeking EU funds amid regional threats.

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[This is an automatically generated summary, for reference only]

The Romanian Ministry of Defence is purchasing protective equipment for civilians, including 12 rescue helicopters, search and rescue detectors, drones, and emergency shelters, as well as defense gear against chemical and nuclear attacks using European funds. They are also establishing 42 mobile reception stations for mass evacuations. Romania is borrowing 16 billion euros from the SAFE facility, allocating 900 million to civilian protection and the remainder largely to acquiring German and French air defense systems. These civil defense upgrades follow increased drone attacks in the Black Sea region and along Moldovan and Ukrainian borders, leading Romania to announce an increase in armed forces on its eastern borders at the beginning of January. Bulgaria plans to borrow 3.2 billion euros from SAFE primarily for air defense systems, 3D radars, modern armored vehicles, drones, and anti-drone systems. The European Commission has proposed the SAFE loan for eight countries, with decisions pending for eleven others; it is currently unclear if Hungary can access a previously promised 16.2 billion euro defense loan from Brussels or if this is contingent upon completing anti-corruption measures.

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