Cyprus on Friday took receipt of its first payment under the European Union’s Security Action for Europe (Safe) defence procurement programme, with a total of €177.2 million being disbursed to the island’s government.

The disbursement amounts to 15 per cent of Cyprus’ total allocation of just shy of €1.2 billion, with the European Commission saying that the funds will “enable Cyprus to advance key defence investments, reinforce resilience, and upgrade its military capabilities in line with common European objectives”.

European Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius, meanwhile, said that “today’s pre-financing for Cyprus under Safe shows Europe’s commitment to strengthening our common security and defence”.

“This support will help Cyprus invest faster in the capabilities it needs, while contributing to our common European objectives of a stronger, more resilient, and more connected defence industry. Safe is about solidarity, readiness, and ensuring that member states can deliver for Europe’s security together,” he said.

The disbursement comes after the Cypriot government and the European Commission signed a loan agreement earlier this month, with Cyprus having been the sixth EU member state to have signed a loan agreement, after Poland, Lithuania, Croatia, Romania and Belgium all signed their own agreements last month.

Poland was also the first country to receive funds, being given a little over €6.5bn of the almost €44bn to which it is entitled under the scheme at the end of last month. Poland is the largest recipient of Safe programme funding of any EU member state.

Defence Minister Vasilis Palmas said last year the funding would see the National Guard acquire military hardware to “cover [its] priorities” until 2030.

He added that the Safe programme came about “at a time when the European Union’s needs to cover shortcomings are significant”, and at a time “when the mobilisation of equipment programmes and joint procurement programmes is becoming urgent”.

“The €150bn which will be invested by member states in the joint procurement of high-tech weapons systems is expected to be the trigger for a new promising era for European defence, with the ultimate goal of autonomy, technological dominance, and resilience,” he said.

Cyprus’ investment plan had been approved by the Council of the EU in February, with President Nikos Christodoulides at the time describing the Safe programme as “an important financial tool”.

He added that the Council of the EU’s approval of the funding is “an indication of the correct work which was carried out in Cyprus”, before highlighting the fact that Cyprus is “among the first member states where the relevant amount was approved”.