On 9 July 2024, the Permanent Mission of Latvia to the United Nations in New York in association with the representations of Bahrain and Columbia and a United Nations think tank – the Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) – held a thematic discussion on fostering of resilience in cyberspace.
The event was launched by the Under Secretary of the Ministry of Defence of Latvia, Policy Director Rolands Heniņš, and the participants of the panel included the Manager of the Information Technologies Security Incident Response Institution of Latvia, CERT.LV, Baiba Kaškina, and experts from Microsoft, Cisco and the Paris Peace Forum.
Those present in the discussion agreed on the need to develop close cooperation between the public and private sector stakeholders in order to provide an effective response to the increasing challenges in cyberspace. Building trust among public and private institutions is an essential prerequisite for a coordinated and rapid response to cyber-attacks. Latvian experts presented Latvia’s experience in this field and concrete measures taken in the context of strengthening cyber security, including the national Cyber Security Law approved on 20 June, which provides for the establishment of the National Cyber Security Centre. Participants were also informed about activities implemented by Latvia to support the enhancement of cybersecurity governance in other countries, including in the Balkans region.
The thematic discussion took place as part of the 8th substantive session of the UN Open-ended Working Group on security of and in the use of information and communications technologies. The aim of this process is to promote responsible national behaviour in cyberspace, including by raising awareness that international law is fully applicable to cyber-environments. Likewise, the provision of support to countries, especially developing countries, in strengthening their capacity to address cybersecurity challenges and thereby closing the gaps in the level of national cybersecurity preparedness is a key priority in the process. Initiatives by Latvia and other countries to promote experience sharing and best practice bring a significant contribution to this effort.
The event was implemented as part of the public diplomacy programme in support of the lobby campaign of Latvia’s candidacy for the United Nations Security Council.
The campaign under the motto of “Together for peace and resilience” aims at ensuring successful election of Latvia to the United Nations Security Council for the 2026–2027 term in the 2025 election, at which Latvia is running for an elected member’s seat for the first time. Membership of the UNSC will be a key instrument in pursuit and protection of Latvia’s foreign policy interests, as well as making it possible for Latvia to expand the scale of its international cooperation and thereby contributing to world peace and resilience.