EU approves $115 million to turn Baltic port near Russia into NATO naval hub
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The European Investment Bank (EIB) has approved a 100 million euro ($115 million) loan to make the Baltic Sea port of Klaipeda ready to accommodate NATO ships, it announced on Sept. 15.
The EIB is the lending arm of the European Union, and since 2025, its portfolio has expanded to help the continent beef up its defense capabilities and to continue supporting Ukraine.
The Lithuanian port of Klaipeda sits in a highly strategic location on the Baltic Sea coast, just over 50 kilometers (around 30 miles) north of Russia's Kaliningrad exclave and a three-and-a-half-hour drive from the EU and NATO's eastern border.
"Few projects illustrate Europe's priorities as clearly as the Port of Klaipeda," EIB Vice-President Karl Nehammer said.
The civilian cruise ship terminal is set to be revamped to allow NATO ships to dock, with a view to improving the logistics of defending the Eastern Flank.
Klaipeda's port is part of the EU's TEN-T transport network, comprising ten transcontinental routes identified as strategically important, accompanied by a roster of projects intended to improve civilian and military transport by 2030.
Not all of those projects are expected to be completed on time. For example, the Rail Baltica project to link the Baltic capitals of Tallinn, Estonia, and Vilnius is beset with delays.
In Brussels, the European Parliament and EU countries are haggling over a new law on military mobility, which aims to remove national-level obstacles to moving troops and equipment more quickly across the continent.
Some of the debates over that law revolve around how much to include Ukraine as both a country receiving military support from the EU and as a potential future member state.
The EIB funding for Klaipeda will cover nearly half of the project's 201 million euro ($232 million) price tag, with the remainder to come from EU and national contributions.
