Former NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana has announced that the project for a Multilateral Defence, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB), which he initiated during his time in NATO's senior leadership, is becoming a reality, with Romania joining as a founding member.

'I am delighted and proud to see the Multilateral Defence, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB) project becoming a reality. I initiated the project during my time in NATO's senior leadership as an additional instrument for financing and innovation, alongside DIANA and the NATO Innovation Fund. I have continued to support it in my current capacity as a member of the DSRB Development Group Board, together with former NATO colleagues and professionals from the financial, legal and consultancy sectors.

'These have been years of dedicated work, during which we succeeded in convincing governments and political and financial stakeholders in democratic countries of the need for an additional financing instrument dedicated to the defence industry, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises and for countries facing budgetary constraints and high financing costs,' he wrote on Facebook on Thursday.

Geoana noted that Romania is a founding member of the DSRB.

'I welcome the leadership shown by the Canadian and Luxembourg prime ministers (...). I am also proud to see Romania as a founding member of the DSRB, and I thank our authorities for supporting this important project. We look forward to the Bank's official launch ceremony at the NATO Summit in Ankara,' he added. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Georgiana Tanasescu; EN - writing by: Cristina Zaharia)