NATO expert Hari Bucur Marcu's tough analysis: SAFE procurement list, no strategy. “We play the war until it comes to us”

The historic funding of more than 16.68 billion euros through the European SAFE mechanism, intended for the massive modernization of the Army and the dual infrastructure, is actually the money for a shopping list made without any strategy and without any plan, according to security policy analyst Hari Bucur Marcu.

Security policy analyst Hari Bucur Marcu, the Romanian who wrote a NATO manual and contributed to the integration into the North Atlantic Alliance, told “Adevărul” that the list of 21 endowment projects for the Army, financed by the EU through SAFE, “it's actually a shopping list”, made without any strategy or plan of defense.

“We (Romania – n. ed.) are in a situation where, as NATO allies, our defense expenses are increasing, and we don't have this money. So the EU came up with the SAFE program, through which it helps the member states finance the endowment of the Army. They only asked that the member states say what they spend the money on. But that's not how things are done. The EU should have divided the efforts among the states. Economically effective would have been a common military power of the EU member states. But the Union did as it has done before: it put the money on a shopping list. And this shopping list was made with no strategy and no plans. It's pointless to discuss a shopping list, because in a few months we might need something else“said Hari Bucur Marcu for “Adevărul”.

Referring to the Army's list of 21 endowment projects, the security policy analyst asked rhetorically: “Do you see there (in the list of 21 projects – ed.) any drone detection system?! Don't you see! We might need them in 1-2 months, but we've put something else on the list… Maybe it's maintenance or weapon storage expenses…”the analyst said.

He reminded that all these expenses should not exceed 30% of the country's defense budget. “The budget projection for 2026 is half of last year's and because there is not enough money, Romania is borrowing. There is a law on MApN budget planning, which is issued only if there is a defense strategy. But Romania does not have a clear analysis of military risks, which would contain both threats and vulnerabilities, based on which we would know exactly what we need, what type of weaponry, what to endow our Army with. We play war until war comes upon us! And I've had it happen twice in the last century“, explained analyst Hari Bucur Marcu for “Adevărul”.

9.53 billion euros for endowment of the Army

Romania aims to significantly support the relaunch and expansion of the regional defense industry, involving programs in the land, air, maritime, cyber and mobility fields. These include the procurement and/or local production of armored vehicles, logistics trucks, helicopters, air and missile defense systems, naval patrol vessels, spare munitions, drones and dual-use critical infrastructure.

“Through this mechanism, in fact, there will be a cooperation through which licensed companies with state-of-the-art technologies will be brought into the same yard as factories in the national defense industry,” explained Deputy Prime Minister Radu Miruță, Minister of National Defense, who also provided details about the projects in the field.

“There are 21 projects related to the Ministry of National Defense, which total 9.53 billion euros. Of the 21 projects, 10 are joint procurements with other states, 11 are individual procurements by the Romanian state”the Minister of Defense, Radu Miruță, said on Monday.

List of military purchases of Romania from the SAFE program

The Minister of Defense, Radu Miruță, presented on Monday the list of Romania's military purchases from the SAFE program:

• Armored personnel carriers 8×8 / Piranha 5 – 139 products 761,200,000 Euro

• Multifunctional transport and logistics platforms on wheels – min 1370 vehicles 471,505,000 Euro

• Integrated command post for air and anti-missile defense – 2 systems 160,000,000 Euro

• Intervention star for divers -2 ships 57,000,000 Euro

• Maritime patrol vessel (OPV) – 2 700,000,000 Euro

• Multi-mission helicopters H225M – minimum 12 852.000.000 Euro

• Naval Strike Missile (NSM) systems – 7 systems 207,000,000 Euros

• Individual infantry weapons and ammunition to NATO standard – Approximately 240,000 individual weapons 439,860,000 Euros

• Tracked Infantry Fighting Vehicle – MLI – 198 vehicles 2,983,566,000 Euro

• Integrated real training simulation system – 1 system 94,500,000 Euro

• Software platform for C4ISR systems – 70 instances 19,000,000 Euro

• Portable air defense system – MANPAD – 231 systems with 934 missiles (Mistral no.) 625,560,000 Euros

• 7 Very short-range air defense systems with C-UAS and C-RAM capabilities (SKYNEX), deployable – 7 systems 476,000,000 Euros

• 2 Very Short Range Air Defense Systems (V-SHORAD) with C-UAS and C-RAM Skyranger 35mm capabilities, mobile – 2 systems 330,000,000 Euros

• 12 Medium Range Radar Detection Systems – 12 systems 258,000,000 Euros

• 3 medium-range surface-to-air missile systems ( SBAMD(L)-MR / SBAMD(L)-M-MR) – 3 systems 450,000,000 Euro

• Strike systems with loitering ammunition – 70 systems 147,000,000 Euro

• 2 Very Short Range Naval Air Defense Systems with C-UAS and C-RAM Capabilities (Millennium) – 2 systems 36,000,000 Euros

• Class 1 surveillance and intelligence gathering drone system, mini-UAS – 56 systems / 22 already contracted 45,770,000 Euros

• 35mm ammunition via NSPA (CRAM – Oerlikon + Skyranger) – 87000 shots 23,150,000 Euro

• 35mm ammunition (CRAM – Oerlikon + Skyranger, including AHEAD programmable burst ammunition) – 400,000 shots 393,275,000 Euro

Financing through SAFE is available for the period 2026-2030 and offers loans with a maximum maturity of 45 years and a grace period of 10 years, with a low interest rate (maximum 3%). Thus, Romania will start repaying these amounts only from 2035, in an interval of 30 years.

The main condition for accessing financing through SAFE is the realization of joint public procurement with at least one other participating state (EU member state, EEA-EFTA or Ukraine).

Exceptionally, SAFE also allows procurement involving a single member state, but only for a limited period of time – provided the procurement contract is concluded by May 2026.

Another important requirement for procurement eligibility under SAFE is that at least 65% of the estimated cost of the final product be represented by components from participating states.