politics
Canada Aims to Announce 10 Founding Nations for Defence Bank at NATO Summit
Canada plans to name roughly 10 founding members of the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank at next week's NATO summit in Turkey. The bank targets up to £100 billion in low-cost financing for allied defence capabilities. Initial members are expected to be mostly European countries plus Canada.
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Canada is aiming to co-announce around 10 founding nations for the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank at next week's NATO summit in Turkey. Isabelle Hudon, Canada's top negotiator for the initiative and CEO of the Business Development Bank of Canada, said the initial roster would likely consist of European countries besides Canada.
Hudon stated that the announcement depends on final negotiations over capital commitments and is not guaranteed.
She noted that the project has momentum and that membership will remain open after the founding group is named. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is promoting the bank as part of an alliance of middle powers. The bank seeks to raise up to £100 billion in cheap finance to support defence capabilities of allied nations, Reuters reported.
Hudon said Canada has held productive talks with South Korea and assessed a 50-50 chance of its participation, possibly at a later stage. No other G7 nations are close to signing up at this time. South Korea's Finance Ministry has previously told Reuters it was reviewing the proposal.
Canada's Finance Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
