Military cooperation
European defense ministers have approved Romania's plan to attract 16.7 billion euros under the SAFE military program.
Corina Cristea, 12.02.2026, 13:50
In Brussels, at the meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council, European defense ministers gave the final vote on rearmament programs for eight member states. Romania, represented at the meeting by its Defense Minister, Radu Miruță, received the second largest funding from the EU under the SAFE program, after Poland, worth 16.7 billion euros. The money will go to defense, for production, development and acquisitions, but also to strategic objectives such as highways, which can be used by both the military and civilians.
Minister Radu Miruţă says that Romania wants to move quickly in terms of development and production of military equipment: “SAFE is a program that unfolds until 2030. We have 21 projects in the military area. Of the 21, 10 are joint acquisitions, 11 are acquisitions on individual projects, which we will announce to other partners, if they also connect to make a joint acquisition based on Romania’s requirements. There are three categories of situations: some in which we will buy products from other people’s shelves, because we do not have the capacity to produce them in Romania; there are two other categories that give a boost to the domestic defense industry – in some cases, 100% of production will unfold in Romania, while in other cases 30%, 40%, 80% of them will be produced in our country.” The funds coming through the SAFE program will raise the value of Romania’s defense budget to 2.7% of GDP in 2026, an increase of half a point, from 2.2% last year, in keeping with the commitments of all NATO allies for defense.
On the same day that the final vote on the SAFE programs was given in Brussels, Hanwha Aerospace Romania began construction of the factory that will produce K-9 self-propelled howitzers and K-10 ammunition resupply vehicles. The factory is the the South Korean company’s first production platform in Europe and will be the pillar of the long-term strategic partnership with Romania, the company’s president, Jae Il-Son, said. Located in southern Romania, in Petreşti (Dâmboviţa), the factory will have an area of over 180 thousand square meters and will include modern assembly lines, a 1,800-meter test range, research and development laboratories and maintenance workshops. The project supports Romania’s ambition to become a European defense manufacturing hub and contributes to the broader security objectives of NATO and the EU. In July 2024, Hanwha Aerospace signed a contract with Romania for the supply of 54 K-9 self-propelled howitzers and 36 K-10 vehicles, making the country the 6th NATO member state to operate this type of military system. (EE)
