Can Europe Afford to Defend Itself? Rob Murray on the new Security & Resilience Bank

Europe faces a strategic reality: deterrence requires more than political will — it requires the ability to finance it.

In this episode of the Eastern Frontline podcast, MEPs Reinis Pozņaks and Roberts  Zīle speak with Rob Murray, the CEO of the Defence, Security & Resilience Bank, a former Head of Innovation at NATO and architect of the NATO Innovation Fund, to unpack why Europe’s defence financing model is no longer fit for purpose.

Murray explains:

• Why the defence industrial base cannot scale without access to credit
• How regulatory constraints block SMEs from entering defence supply chains
• Why the Defence, Security & Resilience Bank could be a game-changer
• The limits of the EIB’s mandate — and why complementary instruments are needed
• The strategic risk of defence inflation and multi-year procurement uncertainty
• How a transatlantic, Indo-Pacific coalition of shareholders could accelerate production

A clear message emerges: Europe needs new financial architecture if it wants real deterrence.