BRUSSELS, Belgium: The EU’s 27 nations on Thursday urged the European Investment Bank, the EU’s financing body, to ramp up lending to defense firms in the face of a mounting threat from Russia.
The European Union has been clambering to produce more weapons in a bid to continue the flow of arms and ammunition to Kyiv and keep Europe’s stocks in good health.
“The European Investment Bank is invited to adapt its policy for lending to the defense industry and its current definition of dual-use goods,” the leaders said in conclusions after a summit in Brussels.
The EIB is the world’s biggest multilateral public lender and has plowed in billions of euros to help Ukraine after Russia’s 2022 invasion.
But according to long-established policies, the Luxembourg-based bank should not directly fund the production of arms and ammunition, and the dual-use goods it finances must have a primarily civilian purpose.
The states’ call comes after more than half of the bloc’s members urged the EIB to bolster financing for Europe’s defense industry as war rages on the continent.
In a letter signed by 14 countries including the EU’s powerhouses, Germany and France, they said Sunday the lender should expand its investments in defense beyond a small number of “dual-use products” that can have both military and civilian functions.
Since its establishment in 1958, the EIB has invested more than a trillion euros in projects covering a range of sectors including the environment and social cohesion.
The EIB also plays a strong role in international development. Its EIB Global branch is active in 160 countries and has poured 10.8 billion euros in loans in 2023.
EU states tell bloc’s bank to lend more for defense
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EU states tell bloc’s bank to lend more for defense
- The European Investment Bank is the world’s biggest multilateral public lender and has plowed in billions of euros to help Ukraine after Russia’s 2022 invasion
Indonesia to send record number of women officers to assist Hajj pilgrims
- Women comprise 33% of Indonesian Hajj officers in 2026
- They will assist the world’s largest contingent of Hajj pilgrims
JAKARTA: Indonesia’s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah on Friday concluded a training program for Hajj officers, a group that this year includes a record number of female guides to help Indonesian pilgrims perform the spiritual journey.
The world’s biggest Muslim-majority nation, Indonesia sends the largest contingent of Hajj pilgrims every year, comprising 221,000 people in 2026.
They will be assisted by more than 1,600 Indonesian officers who came from different parts of the country to participate in a 20-day training program in East Jakarta to prepare them for the roles, ahead of the pilgrimage season in May.
“Education and training for Indonesian Hajj officers … are carried out as part of the operational preparations for the 2026 Hajj pilgrimage,” said Puji Raharjo, director general of Hajj management at the ministry, during the closing ceremony on Friday.
“This program is aimed at ensuring the physical, mental, technical and organizational readiness of the officers in order to guide, serve and protect Indonesian Hajj pilgrims.”
Indonesia is sending more than 500 female Hajj officers in 2026 — its largest group of women guides yet.
“This year, women officers comprise about 33 percent, the highest in the history of Hajj management in Indonesia,” Arifatul Choiri Fauzi, the minister of women’s empowerment and child protection, told reporters.
As over 55 percent of Indonesian Hajj pilgrims are women and most of them are elderly, female officers can help ensure that they are treated with more care and empathy, she added.
Fauzi said: “There are many issues that are more suitable to be handled by female officers, things related to women’s issues, assistance inside the room, or emergencies that concern the privacy of the (women) pilgrims.”
The training program, which ran from Jan. 10-30, was aimed at preparing the officers physically and educating them on existing Hajj policies and mechanisms, while also covering operational case studies and lessons on effective communication and Arabic, as well as simulations of real-life situations related to the pilgrimage.
Indonesian Hajj officers will undergo a round of training online in February, before another session is held with reference to their departure locations in Indonesia.
“Every year, Indonesia sends the largest number of pilgrims in the world. This fact demands us to be truly ready and organized with officers who are dependable. Hajj officers fill a strategic role, you represent the state for the pilgrims, (and) you represent the state in front of the world,” Minister of Hajj and Umrah Mochamad Irfan Yusuf said while addressing this year’s batch of Hajj officers.
“This training and guidance program is therefore very important, as this is where you all prepare in order to understand the extent of your duties, strengthen coordination and come together in unity and discipline for the mission ahead.”
