At the meeting of the speakers of the parliaments of the Nordic and Baltic countries in Lillehammer, President of the Riigikogu (unicameral parliament of Estonia) Eiki Nestor (SDE) called on his colleagues to cooperate more in the fight against cyber-crime and their communication with the Eastern partners. According to Nestor, cyber-crime does not know state borders, and therefore often hits more than one country at a time. “Functioning and reliable international cooperation is therefore of key importance in the fight against cyber crime,” he said.
He added that since 2007, Estonia had continuously invested in ensuring its cyber-security. “We are aware that the enemy is usually one step ahead, and this is why it is necessary to act collectively if we want to solve the security problems of the digital world,” Nestor said. The participation of the Nordic countries and the Baltic states in NATO’s Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence in Tallinn was appreciated, Nestor said, and called on Denmark, Norway, and Iceland to also join it.
Speaking about the Eastern Partnership, Nestor said that the stability of the Eastern partners was a cause for concern for all of Europe. “We have to inform people in that region more clearly and purposefully of the activities of the European Union. We also have to explain how our activities could be beneficial to our partners,” he said. An informed citizen would make informed decisions and reasonable choices, he added.
The Nordic-Baltic cooperation format, short NB8, consisting of the five Nordic and the three Baltic countries (Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania), dates back 1992. The first meeting of the NB8 speakers took place in 1997 in Karlskrona, Sweden. They meet regularly to discuss current regional and international topics.
