Loan scheme to rearm Europe could be ‘important breakthrough’ in Ukraine support

EU defence commissioner says he expects a lot of loan requests from member states under 150bn programme

A 150bn (126bn) loans programme to rearm Europe that was finalised this week could be a very important breakthrough" in the EU's military support for Ukraine, the bloc's defence commissioner has said.

Andrius Kubilius, a former prime minister of Lithuania who is the EU's first defence commissioner, said he expected a lot of member states to request EU-backed loans under the 150bn Security Action for Europe (SAFE) scheme, which was approved on Wednesday.