SAFE is part of the EUR 800 billion defence investment plan agreed under the Polish presidency, to be invested by 2030. “On the one hand, we have to care for our own defence posture, we can use the EUR 150 billion of SAFE for our own joint procurement, our own defence, the strengthening of our own defence industrial base, but it can also be used to invest in the Ukrainian defence industrial base. Because we know that it is for us paramount that Ukraine stays strong and that our neighbourhood stays strong and protected,” von der Leyen explained.
Putin has not changed.
In the last 25 years he started four wars.
He can only be kept in check through strong deterrence.
We must be precise and fast with the surge in our defence posture ↓ https://t.co/K8jFoTYIDt
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) August 31, 2025
She also underlined the importance of urgency and coordination. “It is important that we have now a surge in investment, that we invest better, that we invest together, that we invest European. And therefore, it is not only a question of financing, but it is also a question of coordination, of European approach, so that all Europeans understand now and over the next years that we need to stay consistent and determined in investing in our defence posture,” she said.
The Commission’s proposed long-term EU budget includes higher priorities for security and defence. “If you take a long-term look at our proposal for the new modern European budget for the next seven years, we are tripling investment in migration and border management and protection. Member States with a direct border with Russia and Belarus will receive additional EU funding. We have also proposed a ten-fold increase in funding for military mobility. And overall, a five-fold increase in defence investment,” she stated.
Von der Leyen announced the preparation of a roadmap on future defence investment. “In the next weeks, we will prepare a roadmap on how to invest the additional defence money in the European Union, in our defence posture. We will analyse the gaps we have in the European Union and how to fill them by 2030 with targets, with milestones, because only what gets measured gets done. And we will discuss this in the informal European Council at the beginning of October under the Danish presidency,” she said.
Turning to Ukraine, von der Leyen emphasised that European support must remain firm. “The first line of defence in Ukraine is a strong Ukrainian army. I often compare it to a steel porcupine that should be indigestible for potential invaders. The second line of defence is a multinational group, the Coalition of the Willing, with the backstop of the Americans. And then the third and most important line of defence is, of course, our own defence posture and not to forget the work on Ukraine’s membership in the European Union,” she concluded.
