Russian missiles flew into Polish airspace overnight, and NATO scrambled jets to respond. It’s the kind of moment Brussels’ defence fund was built for, except one country still won’t sign up to it. Italy is the last holdout. Until Rome signs, the money meant to protect Poland’s skies stays locked away.
Poland, Lithuania and Romania want more. Under the EU’s SAFE instrument, Brussels can reallocate unused loan money to countries facing sharper security threats. After last night’s incursion, that money looks more urgent than ever. Seventeen EU countries have already finalised their SAFE loans. Italy remains the outlier, and Brussels cannot touch the pool of unspent funds until Rome signs.
Rome asked for €14.9bn, one of the largest allocations in the scheme. “We have decided to use SAFE by requesting funding of €14.9 billion by the end of the year,” Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told Italy’s parliament in late July. That is a political promise, not a signature. The loan agreement itself remains unsigned.
Brussels wants a signature, not more talks
At a midday briefing on 30 July, a Commission spokesperson made clear that patience is running thin. Asked whether there had been further contact with the Italian government, he said no new bilateral exchanges had taken place since the previous week, and the Commission didn’t need any.
What we would need is the signature of the loan agreement.
— Commission spokesperson
“What we would need is the signature of the loan agreement,” he said. The stakes go beyond Italy’s own defence budget. SAFE has a hard deadline: Brussels must reallocate any uncommitted money by the end of the year. Thomas Regnier, the Commission’s defence spokesperson, warned back in early July that unused Italian funds risk redirection to other countries and projects once the year runs out.
A coalition split at home
Rome’s hesitation reflects domestic politics as much as strategy. A divide runs through Italy’s coalition: Forza Italia has pushed for deeper EU integration on defence, while the League remains wary of joint borrowing and higher military commitments. Tajani’s pledge lets the government claim commitment to European defence without yet making the hard budgetary choice.
For the 17 countries that have already signed, some of them on NATO’s eastern flank, the wait is not just administrative. Every day Italy delays is a day frontline states cannot draw on funds they say they need now, at a moment when Russian missiles are already testing NATO’s borders. Brussels has made its position clear. Whether Rome moves before the year-end deadline is now the question that matters most.
