WARSAW (Reuters) -Poland will receive 44 billion euros ($50.91 billion) from the European Union's SAFE programme to boost its armed forces, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Wednesday.
The SAFE programme provides up to 150 billion euros in cheap loans to EU member states that request financial assistance for investments in defence capabilities.
In televised comments at the start of a government meeting, Tusk said some of the funds would be allocated to the purchase of drone equipment for the EU's Eastern Shield, which protects the bloc's eastern borders with Russia and Belarus.
The funds will also be used for space projects, the development of artificial intelligence in the area of defence, equipment for the military, border guards and police, and the SAFE Baltic programme, Tusk said.
SAFE Baltic expands the activities that Poland's navy and border guards can conduct in the geopolitically sensitive Baltic Sea region.
"Thanks to our efforts, we will also be able to finance roads and railways directly related to the security of the Polish state through the SAFE programme," Tusk added.
Poland, a strong supporter of neighbouring Ukraine in its efforts to push back invading Russian forces, spends a larger proportion of its national output on defence than any other NATO member state.
($1 = 0.8643 euros)
(Reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk, Pawel Florkiewicz, Barbara Erling; Editing by Gareth Jones)
