Romania gains NATO defence bank seat and pledges support for Moldova at Ankara summit

Romania left the NATO summit in Ankara with an expanded role on the alliance’s Eastern Flank. The country became a founding member of the new Defence, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB) and will host a secondary office, giving it direct access to financing for defence projects, drone and ISR initiatives, and deep‑precision strike programmes.

President Nicușor Dan used the summit platform to ask NATO allies to help strengthen the defence capabilities of neutral Moldova, stressing the strategic importance of the Black Sea for both security and energy routes. He reiterated that Russia remains the main threat to the alliance and highlighted NATO’s commitment of more than $50 billion in new contracts and €70 billion for Ukraine’s support.

The summit also underscored a broader shift in NATO’s posture, describing Russia as a “structural, long‑term threat” and committing to massive investments in anti‑missile systems, unmanned technologies and cyber infrastructure. Turkey’s hosting of the summit was noted as a signal of its growing strategic role in the Black Sea region.