Cyber security experts from the United States and the Nordic and Baltic countries who met in Tallinn wish to develop cyber security cooperation and to share experiences between the United States and the Nordic and Baltic countries.
Foreign Minister Urmas Paet emphasized that an open debate in the field of cyber security is important to the Nordic and Baltic region and for strengthening allied relations with the United States. It is also an integral part of broader transatlantic cooperation. “The integration of cross-border cyber security, including a growing integration of the economic sphere in both the Nordic and Baltic regions, as well as in the European Union and beyond, demands the greater protection of cyberspace, as well as closer cooperation,” Foreign Minister Paet said.
“Cyber security is necessary not only for national security, but also to protect the rights of citizens,” he added.
Paet said that for years, Estonia has been one of the more active advocates on the subject of cyber security. “In recent years, we have been the initiators and developers of a number of key cyber security-related initiatives,” he said. The meeting focused on key global developments impacting international cyber cooperation and the next steps in international organisations were agreed upon, including in the European Union, the Council of Europe, NATO, the UN and OECD.
The states presented their national cyber security strategies and cyber regulations, including models to improve cooperation between the private and public sectors. Attention was focused on the most substantial component of safeguarding cyber security – civil infrastructure defence and the mechanisms of crisis management. Also the importance of increasing the cyber-capabilities of third countries, confidence building measures and the need for cyber-crime prevention and possible cooperation were under discussion.
The next Nordic-Baltic-US meeting will be held in Finland in 2015.
The cooperation initiative was launched in August 2013, at the meeting of the heads of state of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania with US President Barack Obama in Washington. The goal of the meeting was primarily to enhance cyber security dialogue between the Nordic-Baltic regions and the US and to share experiences.
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