NATO and Allied experts gathered in Oslo on 13–14 November for the Alliance’s annual Hybrid Symposium, an event aimed at improving national and collective approaches to countering hybrid threats, the UK Defence Journal understands.
According to NATO, delegates examined recent examples of malign hybrid activity and discussed how nations are adapting their own measures to protect critical infrastructure.
The symposium also served as a forum to advance implementation of the Alliance’s revised Counter Hybrid Strategy, which places emphasis on faster decision making, clearer national responsibilities and closer coordination with NATO’s structures.
In opening remarks, Ambassador Jean Charles Ellermann Kingombe, NATO’s Assistant Secretary General for Cyber and Digital Transformation and Special Coordinator for Countering Hybrid Threats, highlighted the shifting nature of the challenge. He said “the dynamic nature of the threat landscape” required “agile and timely responses at both national and NATO levels to protect our societies and critical infrastructure.”
Participants discussed ways to strengthen cooperation with industry to improve infrastructure protection, with European Union representatives sharing examples of public–private partnerships used in countering hybrid activity. NATO noted that the symposium forms part of a wider effort across the Alliance to increase preparedness and support deterrence against hybrid threats.
The event was co organised by NATO’s Cyber and Digital Transformation Division and three Norwegian ministries: Foreign Affairs, Defence, and Justice and Public Security.
