Romania's Nicușor Dan pushes NATO for Black Sea defences and joins new defence bank at Ankara summit

Summit opens in Ankara

NATO leaders gathered at the Presidential Complex in Ankara on Tuesday evening for a reception and dinner hosted by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and First Lady Emine Erdoğan. The second day began on Wednesday with a welcoming ceremony by Erdoğan and Secretary General Mark Rutte, followed by a North Atlantic Council session.

On Tuesday, before the summit formally opened, the NATO Security and Defence Industry Forum unveiled a series of initiatives. Secretary General Rutte announced contracts worth at least 50 billion dollars, including European purchases of surveillance drones from Northrop Grumman and NATO’s acquisition of GlobalEye aircraft from Saab. Allies also committed over 40 billion dollars over five years to counter‑drone capabilities.

The United States is a devoted member of the alliance. But there are also certain expectations, and those are that Europeans and Canadians bring their defence investment levels up to the Americans’, something I and many colleagues here today consider fair.

Romania’s priorities

President Nicușor Dan, speaking before Wednesday’s session, said the draft summit declaration reaffirms alliance unity, Article 5 collective defence, and the transatlantic link. “It is very important for Romania that the draft declaration mentions unity, Article 5, collective defence of the entire NATO territory, and the transatlantic bond,” he said. He added that mention of the Russian threat means greater attention to the eastern flank and the war in Ukraine.

Dan stressed the need for consolidated air and maritime defence. Romania has signed several memoranda of understanding on anti‑drone programmes, a pilot‑training initiative, the NATO Drone Edge joint procurement scheme, and the GlobalEye surveillance system that replaces AWACS.

We will insist on the strategic importance of the Black Sea.

Romania also expects an agreement with Turkey and Bulgaria on the Black Sea demining project, part of the MCM Black Sea task group.

Defence bank and bilateral meetings

Romania on Tuesday joined the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank as a founding member. The bank, coordinated by Canada, will have main offices in Canada and Luxembourg and two regional offices on the eastern flank, one in Romania and one in the Baltic states. “Romania is honoured to host one of the bank’s regional offices,” Dan said.

Dan held a bilateral meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, discussing Black Sea security and nuclear energy cooperation. Both leaders exchanged invitations for official visits. Canada already has a dive team in Romania as part of MCM Black Sea.

Canada is one of our closest and most trusted partners. Our cooperation in nuclear energy is excellent and has significant potential for development.

He also met outgoing British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, at Starmer’s request, to discuss defence industry ties, deep precision strike capabilities, and the Coalition of Will backing Ukraine. A short meeting with Croatian President Zoran Milanović followed. Later, Dan is scheduled to sit down with South Korean President Lee Jae‑myung, who brings proposals on defence and energy. Finally, Dan may hold talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenski on interconnected energy projects and drone training for Romanian troops; a meeting of southeastern‑flank leaders hosted by Zelenski is planned for 15 July.

Spending and US presence

Allies are under pressure to raise defence budgets. NATO figures show Lithuania leads at 5.3% of GDP, followed by Estonia (5.1%), Latvia (4.9%), Poland (4.6%), the United States (3.17% by year‑end), and Romania (2.19% last year). Dan said the summit is a stock‑take of progress since the Hague summit a year ago, when increased spending was agreed.

Asked about Donald Trump’s criticism of European spending and a possible further reduction of US troops on the continent, Dan said: “I do not currently see a risk of US troop withdrawal from the eastern flank.”