Afət Ziyadqızı
Eight NATO member states and Ukraine have reached an agreement to establish a new financial institution, the "Defense, Security and Resilience Bank," aimed at increasing investments in the defense sector.
According to the Operative Information Center-OMM, citing reports from the Reuters agency, the decision was finalized during a NATO summit held in Ankara.
The initiative includes Canada, Albania, Belgium, Greece, Latvia, Luxembourg, Romania, Turkey, and Ukraine. The headquarters of the new bank will be located in Canada, with operations expected to commence in 2027. Participating nations are currently defining the operational mechanisms and financing principles for the institution.
According to a joint statement, the bank will provide long-term, low-interest financial support for defense and security projects. The primary objective is to expand financial opportunities for governments, as well as small and medium-sized enterprises, within the military supply chain.
The initiative is largely driven by the need to increase defense industry investment and support the expansion of military production in the context of the ongoing war in Ukraine. In recent years, while NATO countries have significantly increased their defense spending, several European nations have faced challenges related to managing public debt and budgetary constraints, making specialized financial vehicles increasingly necessary for security infrastructure development.
