France can provide defense aid to Ukraine but should scale back financial support, Le Pen says
"This is not an act of hostility towards Ukraine. We can continue to train their soldiers, their armies; we can continue to provide them with equipment so they can defend themselves," the co-leader of the French far-right National Rally (RN) party, Marine Le Pen, said on Sept. 16.
The European Union has a surplus of funds from its €150 billion Security Action for Europe (SAFE) program, which it intends to allocate for cooperative initiatives with Ukrainian businesses. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen disclosed this initiative during her address to the European Parliament on September 16th.
The recent Russia-Ukraine conflict has compelled the EU to allocate greater resources to defense, resulting in the establishment of SAFE as part of this strategy. Ukraine is encountering substantial defense expenses, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy estimating the funding shortfall for 2026 at $27 billion. The remaining funds from SAFE, estimated between €10 billion and €20 billion, will be utilized to establish a new program for joint ventures with Ukrainian companies.
EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius projected that the unspent portion could reach €10 billion to €20 billion, pending member states' reporting on their SAFE projects by the end of October. This announcement caught several governments off guard, as Poland and others claim the Commission never discussed it with them, while Warsaw had anticipated using the funds for its own projects.
The proposal permits unused money from SAFE allocations to be redirected to joint projects with Ukrainian firms, potentially benefiting the Freya project, a European-Ukrainian air and missile defense system intended as a cost-effective alternative to the American Patriot system. In 2025, Ukraine achieved associate partner status in SAFE, permitting Ukrainian firms to vie for contracts and co-develop military systems with European entities.
Fifteen member states have indicated their intent to procure Ukrainian weapons via the program, with Canada joining as the initial non-European participant in December 2025. Bulgaria also agreed to collaborate on SAFE-funded joint weapon production with Ukraine in March 2026. The conflict continues to strain Ukraine's finances, with the government projecting a defense budget of ₴4.885 trillion ($110 billion) for 2027, accounting for nearly 44% of GDP.
Written by urgent.news from Euromaidan Press's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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