The European Union will propose extending €150 billion ($158 billion) in loans to boost defense spending as the bloc tries to adjust to U.S. President Donald Trump’s abrupt pullback of American security on the continent.
After decades of underinvestment, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the EU also plans to activate a mechanism that would allow countries to use their national budgets to spend an additional €650 billion on defense over four years without triggering budgetary penalties.
Combined with the new defense spending loans, von der Leyen said the package could mobilize nearly €800 billion — if governments take full advantage of the new leeway.
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