Poland to start NATO-Ukraine coop re hybrid threats - security bureau
A NATO-Ukraine platform on counteracting hybrid threats will be inaugurated on Thursday with an expert conference held in Warsaw, the National Security Bureau (BBN) said in a Wednesday statement sent to PAP.
The establishment of the platform is a key element of the Comprehensive Assistance Package (CAP) for Ukraine, adopted by heads of government and state during a NATO summit held in Warsaw in July 2016.
The conference held within the platform has been organised by Poland's BBN and Foreign Ministry. It will attract over 100 experts from Poland and other NATO member states as well as the Alliance's partner countries. The event will be attended by representatives of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine's Secretariat, the Ukrainian parliament and Ukraine's National Institute for Strategic Studies.
The debate will be opened by BBN head Pawel Soloch, Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksandr Litvinenko, NATO's Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy James Appathurai and Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Bartosz Cichocki.
The conference will feature expert panels on security policy in a hybrid war environment, strategic management during a hybrid war with the example of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, and practical aspects of ensuring national security in a hybrid war.
The aim of the platform is to create a mechanism for strategic or expert cooperation between NATO and Ukraine on matters related to fighting hybrid threats. In this context, Ukraine is seen to possess unique experience as regards the operation of the state under a hybrid war, which is valuable for NATO members, particularly those whose stability is important for the Alliance due to political and strategic reasons.
Individual projects have been grouped in thematic clusters led by one country or a group of countries. NATO has suggested that Poland lead the crisis management cluster.
The cooperation will cover identification and assessment of hybrid threats and increasing countries' resilience in such areas as civil preparedness, protection of critical infrastructure, strategic communications, cyberdefence and fighting terrorism, also in the context of building integrated models of national security management, BBN said in its statement.
The platform is based on the Charter on a Distinctive Partnership between NATO and Ukraine of 9 July 1997 and is in line with the Strategy on NATO’s Role in Countering Hybrid Warfare, BBN added.
Source: PAP