Hybrid threats center to tackle risks in Baltic region

The European Center of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats (Hybrid CoE) will begin its work with an assessment of hybrid risks in the Baltic Sea region.

The plan was published as a joint Finnish-Swedish initiative at the launch seminar of the center in Helsinki on Wednesday.

Finnish Foreign Minister Timo Soini said the plan could serve as a model for comparable assessments in other regions, such as the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.

Soini also met his Swedish counterpart Margot Wallström where they discussed security policy situation in the Baltic Sea, Russia, deepening of the foreign and security policy cooperation between Finland and Sweden as well as cooperation related to the European Union’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP).

The Center's director Matti Saarelainen said the Center is ready to host an expert meeting on the risks in the Baltic Sea region this autumn.

The Center is to serve as a hub of expertise supporting the participating countries' efforts to counter hybrid threats. Currently 12 countries participate in its work.