Belgium Joins NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre

Belgium on Friday announced that it will become a sponsoring nation for the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence.

Belgium sent a delegation to visit the Centre to start the accession negotiations last week. Belgium will join a list of sponsoring nations that already includes The Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

All NATO Allies can become members of the NATO CCDCOE, and other countries that are not part of NATO can join as “contributing participants.” In fact, Austria and Finland have already joined the Centre as contributing participants, an announcement from CCDCOE reads.

Back in August, Sven Sakkov, undersecretary for defense policy in the Estonian Ministry of Defence, was appointed Director of NATO CCDCOE, replacing Colonel Artur Suzik of the Estonian Defense Forces, who led the CCDCOE since 2012. Sakkov also served as defence counsellor at the Estonian Embassy in Washington, and as director of the Estonian Ministry of Defence’s policy planning department.

Based in Tallinn, the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence was designed to serve as a knowledge hub focused on interdisciplinary applied research and development, as well as offering consultation, training and exercises in the field of cyber security.

The Centre is focused on improving the cyber defence capabilities of all NATO allies and partner nations, while also enhancing cooperation and information sharing between them. CCDCOE employees and financing are supplied by sponsoring nations and contributing participants.

“Belgian Defence is honoured being accepted as a member of the CCDCOE. Cyber Defence is a top priority of the Belgian Government. Belgian Defence will very soon add deeds to words by sending a proficient cyber defence specialist to Tallinn,” Colonel Gunther De Kerpel supported by Major Jeff Vandromme from the Strategic Affairs Department of the Belgian Defence Staff, said.

Sakkov noted that Belgium is an important contributor to cyber security in Europe and that it is of great importance for the European Security that it becomes a full-fledged member of the Centre, especially at a time when cyber challenges are on the rise.

“Belgium is a key contributor to European cyber security. In addition to hosting several international institutions, they are fundamental to several cyber defence cooperation efforts in NATO and the European Union. We warmly welcome Belgium’s decision and hope for an expeditious accession process,” Mr. Sakkov said