The State Department’s European Recapitalization Incentive Program provides cash to Eastern European countries that are transitioning from Russian to American-made arms, and now the Trump administration wants to operate the program worldwide.
“To get the money, countries must get rid of their Russian weapons, promise not to buy new ones, and commit some of their own funding to buying American,” says Defense One’s Marcus Weisgerber.
The program has spent about $190 million in six countries to help pay for American-made arms since it started about a year ago, Weisgerber reports:
- Albania ($30 million for helicopters)
- Bosnia ($30.6 million for helicopters)
- Croatia ($25 million for infantry fighting vehicles)
- Greece ($25 million for infantry fighting vehicles)
- North Macedonia ($30 million for infantry fighting vehicles)
- Slovakia ($50 million for helicopters)
While the State Department has not identified specific countries that could participate in other parts of the world, Weisgerber says that it wants to include Chinese-made weapons in the program as well.
