Poland will receive EUR 269 million from unlocked EU funds from the EPF

Before the meeting of EU defense ministers, Zalewski said that Poland would receive EUR 269 million from part of the funds whose use has so far been blocked by Hungary. The deputy minister explained that Poland had previously agreed that it would receive over EUR 400 million gross from the remaining EPF funds in 2026-2027. In addition - as he announced on Monday - there will be EUR 269 million from the pool, the use of which has so far been blocked by Hungary.

It can be said that we will receive well over EUR 600 million, said Zalewski, noting that these are estimates for now and exact calculations will be made later.

The money can be used to modernize the army

EUR 269 million concerns refunds for projects already implemented. The money will go to the Armed Forces Support Fund and can be used to modernize the Polish army.

Zalewski also announced that together with this money, Poland will receive a total of EUR 1.05 billion net from the EPF since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The funds will also be allocated for a training mission

On Friday, the head of EU diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, announced that EU countries had reached an agreement on how to use EUR 6.6 billion from the EPF, the release of which had been blocked since 2023 by Hungary under the government of Viktor Orban.

According to the agreement, EUR 4.7 billion will be allocated to reimburse member states for part of the costs of weapons previously transferred to Ukraine. Another EUR 1 billion is to finance new joint purchases of military equipment, and EUR 900 million for the EU training mission for Ukrainian soldiers, EUMAM Ukraine.

The European Peace Facility is an off-budget mechanism financed by EU countries. It serves, among others, to partially reimburse Member States for the costs of military equipment transferred to Ukraine.