Interim Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan said that, through the signing of the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) agreement between Romania and the European Commission, the country will become safer, underlining that one of the programme's key objectives is to increase the national capacity to produce more in partnership with European industry.

'Yesterday, the SAFE agreement between Romania and the European Commission was signed. Romania will have access to a 16.68 billion euro loan for investments in defence, strategic infrastructure and the development of production capacities within the country,' Ilie Bolojan wrote in a Facebook post on Friday.

He underlined that the programme would bring major advantages, beginning with the modernisation of the army.

'The Romanian army will be equipped with state-of-the-art technology, based on procurement plans drawn up by the military. Romania will be a safer country. With equipment similar to that used by other NATO armies, interoperability within the alliance will increase, strengthening the Eastern Flank,' Bolojan highlighted.

The interim Prime Minister also pointed to the financial advantages of the loan, underscoring that Romania will not be able to reduce defence spending in the coming years because of the war in Ukraine.

'Moreover, we will not be able to avoid further borrowing in the coming years, as we must cover the deficits accumulated over recent years. For this loan, guaranteed by the European Commission, interest rates are half those at which we currently borrow, the grace period is 10 years and the repayment period is 40 years,' Bolojan explained.

He also highlighted the programme's benefit through funding for the completion of motorways in north-eastern Romania.

'More than 4 billion euros are allocated to the Pascani-Suceava-Siret and Pascani-Iasi-Ungheni motorway sections. Without this loan, we would not have had funding for Moldova's motorways. Connectivity is a basic condition for regional development and the completion of work on the two sections will support the development of the northern half of Romania and economic relations with the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine,' Bolojan pointed out.

He also referred to technology transfer into the country and integration into the European defence industry's value chain.

'An important condition of the procurement contracts is that more than half of the components must be produced in Romania. This means technology transfer, investment and the capacity to ensure maintenance of military equipment within the country,' Bolojan showed.

The interim Prime Minister also listed among the programme's advantages the revival of the domestic defence industry.

'Part of the investments will be carried out through partnerships with state-owned companies under the Ministry of Economy, while another part will involve Romanian private companies or direct investments by major European manufacturers in Romania. These investments will make use of the old industrial base, which had not been utilised, and will create new jobs in the areas where the investments will be located. I thank everyone who has worked over recent months to make this agreement a reality. The objective of this programme is not only Romania's security, but also our capacity to produce more here at home, in partnership with European industry,' Bolojan also said.

The European Commission completed on Thursday the procedure for signing the SAFE loan agreement with Romania, a document signed last week by Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare and subsequently sent to Brussels, the Ministry of Finance announced on Thursday. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Daniel Florea; EN - writing by: Adina Panaitescu)