The Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), in cooperation with DG NEAR, organised a two-day high-level conference on cybersecurity in the Western Balkans, on 28-29 June 2023 in Brussels.  “Cyber-attacks are borderless – a joint regional approach to ensure cybersecurity in the region, in line with EU standards, has become a must. Western Balkan economies need robust legal frameworks that facilitate cooperation and information sharing amongst themselves and with EU as well. However, a high level of political commitment to cybersecurity reforms comes first. Region needs to work together. Education and awareness are equally vital components of a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy, as well as programmes and strategies that support digitalisation of business, including e-commerce, which we should be developing rapidly,” said RCC Secretary General, Majlinda Bregu, in her keynote speech at the panel dedicated to progress, challenges and needs in reaching a resilient cyberspace in the Western Balkans.

RCC has recently joined 110 members of the Global Forum on Cyber Expertise (GFCE) to continue strengthening regional and European cyber security capacity building. The RCC is advocating for EU to enable integration of the Western Balkans in the work of the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA). This will mark another application of “phasing in” and contribute to an accelerated alignment of WB with the EU Single Market standards and practices. Additionally, inclusion of Western Balkans in EU Cybersecurity Incident Review Mechanism to assess and review specific cybersecurity incidents would enable an enhanced response to cyber-attacks in the Western Balkans and build capacities for timely response.

The participants of the conference discussed advancing the Western Balkans on their path to greater cyber resilience to cyber threats. Ministers and other representatives of Western Balkans governments and public institutions, donors, international organisations, implementing partners, private sector, NGOs and academia exchanged views on the outstanding challenges and needs in the field of cybersecurity and explored ways to best address them through a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach. The exchanges focused on strengthening regional cooperation, and improving information sharing and exchange of knowledge and experience amongst the Western Balkan economies and within the global cyber community.