The EU is redirecting civilian funds toward military investments.
Europe is shifting its civilian spending budget towards investing in defense funds.
According to RIA Novosti on November 6th, the European Union (EU) press agency reported that the bloc has reached an agreement to redirect civilian budgets to defense spending.
"Denmark – which holds the rotating presidency of the Council of Europe – together with the European Parliament have reached a preliminary agreement on defense investment. This agreement will extend existing EU funds, usually used for civilian purposes, to defense. Ukraine will be linked to the European Defence Fund," the EU press office reported.
A statement published on the EU Council website clarifies that the agreement will increase funding for defense-related investments by amending the STEP, Horizon Europe, EDF, DEP, and MIE programs to redirect funds.
The statement emphasized: "The agreement reached today must be validated by the EU Council and the European Parliament before it can be formally adopted."
In March 2025, the European Commission presented a new defense strategy called "Rearrange Europe," later renamed the less controversial "Ready 2030." This strategy projected the allocation of approximately 800 billion euros to strengthen the defenses of EU member states and arm Ukraine over the next four years.
In May 2025, the European Union agreed to establish the SAFE lending instrument to raise €150 billion for increased arms production. SAFE is seen as a "political manifesto" clearly demonstrating the EU's ambition for "strategic autonomy," enabling the bloc to proactively protect its security interests in an increasingly uncertain world.
SAFE not only helps strengthen deterrence capabilities but also paves the way for deeper defense cooperation, towards building an effective and substantive "European defense alliance".
In addition, approximately 650 billion euros are expected to be allocated from the budgets of EU member states.
In a related development, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov said that the US plans to deploy Dark Eagle medium-range missiles in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, with a flight time from Germany to central Russia of just 6-7 minutes. These missiles could enter service by the end of 2025.
