EU lender expands support for eastern-border security as funding for Lithuanian defence surpasses €1bn this year
Lithuania has secured a €300m loan from the European Investment Bank to upgrade military infrastructure and bolster defence capabilities along the EU’s eastern flank, the bank and Lithuanian officials said on Friday.
The 25-year loan—part of a wider €500m package approved by the EIB—will support harbour boats for piloting and towing, medical transport, equipment procurement and new residential, administrative, training and logistics facilities for the Lithuanian Armed Forces. The projects form part of the country’s 2024–2030 defence investment plan and are intended to strengthen NATO rapid-response readiness and Lithuania’s role in regional deterrence.
The loan complements a €540m EIB facility approved earlier this year for a NATO military base at Rūdninkai, bringing total EIB Group support for Lithuanian defence to more than €1bn in 2025. Lithuania, which borders Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, has increased defence spending sharply as the Baltic region adjusts to heightened security risks.
Kristupas Vaitiekūnas, Lithuania’s finance minister, said the EIB had “provided over one billion euros in support for Lithuania’s defence investments within just a year,” describing the projects as essential for national and European security.
Karl Nehammer, EIB vice-president responsible for operations in Lithuania, said the loan reflects the bank’s expanding mandate in defence investment. “Lithuania has shown leadership in strengthening Europe’s collective security and resilience,” he said. “We are proud to support its efforts to invest in defence infrastructure that benefits both national and European stability.”
The EIB has significantly increased defence-related financing since revising its lending policy in 2024 to allow support for military projects and establishing a dedicated Security and Defence Office. The institution aims to commit around €3.5bn—representing 3.5 per cent of its total annual lending—to security and defence this year, more than triple its 2024 level. The bank is reviewing around 80 proposals and has developed a portfolio of roughly 30 operations focused on Europe’s border infrastructure, drone-defence systems, military mobility and defence-industry capacity.
The latest funding positions Lithuania as one of the largest beneficiaries of the EIB’s new defence mandate, aligning national modernisation efforts with EU-level initiatives to reinforce the bloc’s eastern frontier.