The European Investment Bank (EIB) has tripled the amount of its loans intended to finance the European Union’s defense industry at 3 billion euros, with the aim of encouraging investments aimed at boosting the bloc defense.

At the same time, the EIB signed an agreement with the German Bank Deutsche Bank to launch these funds to European defense companies.

Specifically, he announced on Wednesday that he would provide a € 500m loan to the German bank, which will then lend these funds to small and medium -sized enterprises operating throughout the EU security and defense supply chain.

It is the first time that EIB has been providing the so -called intermediate funding for the defense sector, and is expected to proceed with similar agreements with banks in France and other block countries in the coming weeks.

The EIB, which has the top AAA credit rating, is prohibited from investing directly in military projects, but has begun to invest more in the defense in the last year, as part of Europe’s efforts to boost its safety.

Bank President Nadia Calvinio announced the plan to triple loans during a summit in Brussels, noting that enhancing Europe’s security and defense is now at the ‘focus’ of its mission and will contribute to the ’emergency’.

The triplement of the EIB’s lending program, which was originally approved in December, reflects the “extremely strong” interest of banks across Europe to participate in defense strengthening efforts, the EIB added in a statement.

Interesting the strong pressures exerted by US President Donald Trump in European countries to increase their defense spending, but also on the fact that NATO European members are increasingly realized that they can no longer rely on the US, as in the past, while they are called upon to face.

It is indicative that Germany launched its own cost of € 500m for defense and infrastructure earlier this year, while many other countries have announced their intention to also increase their defense spending.

The prices of the shares of the major European defense companies have been launched as a result, but many smaller companies face obstacles due to lack of funding.

Deutsche Bank Managing Director Christian Seving said the agreement with the EIB would affect hundreds of smaller companies that are critical to the defense sector spare parts, adding that the bank has already formed an internal team to deal with these loans.

“The media are key links in the industry’s supply chain,” Seving said in a post on LinkedIn.