BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th June, 2023) High-ranking EU and NATO officials must cooperate in preventing potential disruptions to critical infrastructure, according to a report by the EU-NATO Task Force on resilience of critical infrastructure published on Thursday by the European Commission.
The task force was launched in March 2023 as part of ongoing cooperation between the two blocs following the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that it would be instrumental in determining threats to EU and NATO critical infrastructure and in developing key principles to enhance its resilience.
"The staffs of NATO and the EU have identified the following recommendations to build on their cooperation: ... ensuring swift engagement between high level EU and NATO officials in the case of an identified major hazard to critical infrastructure or a significant change in the security context," the report read.
The task force also recommends conducting regular assessments of potential threats to critical infrastructure to strengthen dialogue on the security of the cyber, space, maritime and energy domains as well as to regularly analyze observations from the conflict in Ukraine regarding the resilience of critical infrastructure.
The report is expected to be discussed at the EU summit in Brussels on Thursday, in which NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will also take part.
The Nord Stream pipelines, built to deliver gas under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany, were hit by explosions in September 2022. The pipeline's operator, Nord Stream AG, said that the damage was unprecedented and it was impossible to estimate the time repairs might take.
