Cybersecurity – Joint Communiqué of the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France, the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovenia and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro – Regional conference of the Western Balkans Cyber Capacity Center (WB3C) (14 June 2024)

On June 11, high representatives of three founding countries- the Ambassador of France to Montenegro, the Cyber Ambassador of Slovenia and the Cyber Ambassador of Montenegro opened the Western Balkans Cyber Capacity Center’s first regional conference on « Building Regional Cyber Resilience » in Podgorica, Montenegro. The conference gathered together policy and technical experts from the six beneficiary countries (Albania, Bosnia Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia), as well as experts from France, Slovenia, the European Union (DG NEAR, EEAS, ENISA), UNODA, operators such as eGovernance Academy, non-profit organizations, academia and the private sector.

The Western Balkans is faced with cyber talent shortage in a context where cyber threats continue to increase and evolve. To live up to this challenge, the WB3C aims to build cyber capacity in the long term with dedicated programmes on cybersecurity, the fight against cybercrime and cyberdiplomacy. Since May 2023, this center delivered 7 training sessions, and 11 additional sessions will be organized by the end of 2024. The WB3C continues to develop partnerships in the region to propose a comprehensive training programme.

On June 12, the WB3C donated the Diagonal diagnosis tool developed by the French National Gendarmerie to the representatives of the six countries of the Western Balkans. The beneficiaries were trained to use and deploy Diagonal to assess their administrations’ cyber maturity and monitor progress.

The WB3C is a regional training center established in Podgorica, Montenegro, by the governments of France, Slovenia and Montenegro with a European and strategic ambition. The Center is positioned as a platform for cyber capacity-building activities in the region, in support of the European rapprochement of the Western Balkans. Its mission, in addition to training operators and experts from across the region, is to strengthen the operational and institutional response capabilities of administrations in the countries of the Western Balkans in the face of the cyber threats and attacks to which they are subject.