Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs: Diplomacy Has a Significant Role in Cyberspace

Diplomacy has a significant role in cyberspace alongside the intelligence agencies, ministries and law enforcement structures, highlighted Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Teodor Meleșcanu during a briefing on cyber security issues at the Tallinn-based NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence.

”Our responses should be more sophisticated and inter-disciplinary, taking good care of the basic principles, such as the respect of the international law and human rights, within cyber space,” says minister of foreign affairs Teodor Meleșcanu. ”The academic and doctrinal value of the Tallinn Manual 2.0 on the international law applicable to cyber operations helps in codifying the international law to cyberspace.”

“Inter-disciplinary approach to cyber security issues has been the core value of our Centre since the very beginning. We look forward to welcoming Romania in our community of nations as a valued advocate of cyber defence expertise in the Black Sea region,” said Siim Alatalu, Head of International Relations at the NATO CCD COE. The Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs was briefed on the recent developments of the Centre, including the upcoming highlights such as the world´s largest technical live-fire cyber defence exercise Locked Shields and the 9th CyCon conference.

“We appreciate the Estonian support for Romania’s adherence in the near future as a Sponsoring Nation to the Centre. This will be to our mutual benefit, both for Romania, training its experts in Tallinn, and for the Centre, through the value-added that our experts could bring to the research activity,” noted Meleșcanu.

The NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (NATO CCD COE) is a community of nations providing a 360-degree look at cyber defence, with expertise in the areas of technology, strategy, operations and law. The Tallinn-based international military organisation focuses on interdisciplinary applied research, consultations, training and exercises in the field of cyber security. The heart of the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence is a diverse group of international experts from military, government and industry backgrounds.

The Centre is staffed and financed by its sponsoring nations and contributing participants. As of October 2016, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States are signed on as Sponsoring Nations of the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence. Austria and Finland have become Contributing Participants, Swedish has applied for membership in the same format, a status eligible for non-NATO countries.

Photos will be available at the website of the Centre https://ccdcoe.org/