The EIB will strengthen its support for EU defense projects

The European Investment Bank (EIB) will increase annual spending to 100 billion euros ($115 billion) in 2025, while financing EU defense projects will triple to 3.5 billion euros. This decision was agreed at a meeting of the EIB board in Luxembourg and is due to be officially approved by EU finance ministers on Friday.

The new spending limit exceeds the figures for 2024 by more than 10 billion euros and the target values for the current year by 5 billion. In the framework of defense projects, the bank, despite the ban on direct investment in the production of weapons and ammunition, provides loans for dual-use initiatives such as GPS systems and the construction of infrastructure for military installations.

One of these projects was the financing of a base in Lithuania near the border with Belarus, where it is planned to permanently deploy German troops for the first time since the Second World War.