Nordic Council Theme Session on cyber threats and the pandemic
The Norwegian Parliament is one of several institutions that have been victims of cyber attacks, most recently in March 2021.
The Theme Session is traditionally held in the spring. This year, it was scheduled for late June at a time when it looked like there might have been a chance for the 87 members of the Council actually to gather in person. Due to the pandemic dragging on, it will now be held online.
The Nordic Council Presidium, all four committees and the five party groups will meet at the same time, and plenary sessions on 29 and 30 June will debate cyber security, the pandemic and a range of members’ proposals.
Threat to democracy
“Cyber attacks pose serious threats not only to the Nordic countries but to countries all over the world. They strike at the very heart of who we are – our democracies and open societies. That is why it is extremely important that the Nordic Council discusses the issue to see if there is anything our countries can do together to counter these threats. Both cyber threats and the pandemic are examples of challenges that need to be addressed at both Nordic and international level,” says Bertel Haarder, President of the Nordic Council in 2021.
Haarder points out that Denmark included hybrid and cyber threats as a priority in its programme for the Presidency in 2021. Cybersecurity is also mentioned in the Nordic Council Strategy for Societal Security published in 2019.
Ministers join the debates
The debate on cybersecurity will be held on 30 June, 12:30–14:30. The Nordic ministers responsible for emergency planning and the intelligence services will also take part. The Nordic Ministers for Co-operation will address the handling of the corona pandemic at a Q&A session on the same day, 14:40–15:25.
The pandemic will also be in focus earlier in the day during a ’joint’ meeting when all of the members of the Nordic Council will gather under the heading The working life of the future – in the footsteps of the pandemic.
All plenary debates and the joint meeting will be streamed live with interpreters working into Scandinavian, Finnish and Icelandic. The cyber debate and Q&A Session will also be covered by interpreters working into English. See below for links to the livestreams.
Media outlets interested in covering the Theme Session or with questions about it are welcome to contact Matts Lindqvist at matlin@norden.org or +45 29 69 29 05.
The Nordic Council is the official body for Nordic inter-parliamentary co-operation. It has 87 members from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Åland.
