
Canada aims to bring together about ten countries behind an initiative to create a global defense bank during next week's NATO summit in Turkey.
The man behind this idea is Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who aims to build an alliance of "middle powers" to confront new global crises.
The Defense, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB) aims to raise up to $133 billion to buy weapons and strengthen the defense of allied countries due to the "breakdown" of the US-led world order.
Isabelle Hudon, Canada's lead negotiator in this initiative and director of the Business Development Bank of Canada, has announced that it is likely to be composed entirely of European countries, except for Canada, but has not indicated which ones.
She also warned that the official announcement of the DSRB is not 100 percent guaranteed and depends largely on final negotiations with allies, especially regarding their capital commitments, although she added that the project has gained great momentum.
Canada has had productive talks with South Korea. The chances of it joining are 50-50. Luxembourg is the only country so far to have officially joined Canada.
The United Kingdom has refused due to its existing defense project (MDM) along with the Netherlands and Finland, while Italy, Spain, Belgium, Ukraine and Turkey have not ruled out the possibility of participation.
Five cities are in the running to host the DSRB: Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Halifax and Vancouver. The project involves major global banks such as JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank and ING, alongside major Canadian banks such as RBC, BMO, National Bank of Canada, Scotiabank and TD Bank.