On 20 June 2024, in New York, U.S., the Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dace Melbārde, spoke in a United Nations Security Council open debate on cybersecurity hosted by South Korea. The Parliamentary Secretary noted the growing threat to cybersecurity, especially in the context of Russian aggression against Ukraine, and underlined the need to ensure respect for international law in cyberspace. Latvia’s statement called on the Security Council to play a more proactive role in addressing cybersecurity issues, including ensuring the ability to respond rapidly in the event of large-scale attacks.
As part of her visit to New York, the Parliamentary Secretary is also meeting with UN officials to discuss challenges related to international conflicts, peace-building and respect for human rights. In addition, meetings with permanent representatives of several countries to the UN, as well as experts from think tanks, are planned to explain Latvia’s contribution to the strengthening of international peace and security and to highlight Latvia’s priorities as a candidate for membership of the UN Security Council for the 2026–2027 term.
The 20 June UN Security Council event on cybersecurity is the second time in history that the Security Council holds a formal meeting on the topic. Estonia held the first meeting in 2021 as an elected Member of the Security Council. Keeping the cybersecurity topic high on the Security Council’s agenda is essential for the strengthening of compliance with international law and norms of responsible behaviour and drawing attention to malicious activities by countries in cyberspace.