MISWIG/ Balluku meeting: Protecting classified information across national borders

2024-09-16 15:00:00, Aktualitet CNA

MISWIG/ Balluku meeting: Protecting classified information across national

Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku

The Deputy Prime Minister, at the same time the Minister of Infrastructure and Energy, Belinda Balluku stated at the MISWIG meeting that the field of security has changed dramatically and along with this change, the requirements for the expansion of our defense industries have also increased.

Balluku emphasized that the last decade has been characterized by a series of events with global involvement, which have directly influenced the deterioration of security and the violation of norms and principles that contribute to a stable international system.

The government's number two underlined that today's wars are fought not only on the battlefield with conventional weapons, but also in cyberspace, where critical infrastructure, supply lines and defense industries are the preferred targets of attackers.

Balluku said that one of the most important things they learned is that, regardless of the size of the country, it is essential to have national cyber resilience and to create strong cooperation with allies and partners.

“Participants can solve industrial security issues in the most effective way by sharing best practices, technological advances and intelligence information that is already being developed and further developed. Furthermore, linking these efforts to the international security framework, as well as NATO standards, ensures that defense funds are properly spent on joint multilateral projects and that classified information is protected across national borders," said Balluku.

The full speech of Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku

It is a special pleasure to see here today many friends, allies and partners gathered together in this important plenum on industrial security, a critical topic for our national and collective security. If there is a more specific area in which none of us can do it alone, it is undoubtedly security.

Over the past decade, the field of security has transformed dramatically, and with this change have come demands for the expansion of our defense industries. The last decade has been characterized by a series of events with global involvement, which have had a direct impact on the deterioration of security and the violation of norms and principles that contribute to a stable international system.

Ngjarje të mëdha me impakt për shoqërinë njerëzore, siç është rasti i pandemisë, agresioni i Rusisë kundër Ukrainës, situata e sigurisë në Lindjen e Mesme, por dhe zhvillimet në rajonin e Indo-Paqësorit, të gjitha këto kanë kombinuar në një mënyrë të tillë me konkurrencën në rritje për burimet e energjisë dhe unë përveç pozicionit tim si Zëvendëskryeministre në të cilën po adresoj sot, jam dhe Ministre e Infrastrukturës dhe Energjisë, ndaj çështjen e sigurisë energjetike e kam një nga pjesët më të rëndësishme të portofolit tim dhe e di sesi po përdoret sot si një nga armët virtuale më të rrezikshme për të cenuar sovranitete apo edhe lirinë e vendeve të ndryshme. Ndaj të gjitha këto së bashku kanë shtuar kompleksitetin dhe kanë krijuar një peizazh të jashtëzakonshëm të sigurisë globale.

Njëkohësisht, aktorët shtetërorë dhe jo-shtetërorë, po përdorin gjithnjë e më shumë operacione hibride dhe influencë dashakeqe për të projektuar fuqinë dhe për të minuar rendin global. Këto rreziqe tradicionale, por dhe të pazakonta bashkëjetojnë, duke prodhuar një mjedis në të cilin siguria po testohet në mënyrë që nuk e kemi parë më parë. Teksa shqyrtojmë këto situata globale, është thelbësore të nënvizojmë rrezikun e shtuar që paraqesin sulmet hibride dhe kibernetike. Këto nuk janë më rreziqe hipotetike apo të izoluara. Luftërat e sotme zhvillohen jo vetëm në fushëbetejë me armë konvencionale, por dhe në hapësirën kibernetike, ku infrastruktura kritike, linjat e furnizimit dhe industritë e mbrojtjes janë objektivat e tyre të preferuara.

Shqipëria ka mësuar shumë nga sulmi i paprecedent kibernetik i kryer nga aktorë të sponsorizuar nga shteti, i cili synoi infrastrukturën e saj kritike të informacionit dhe ndërpreu shërbimet publike. Një nga gjërat më të rëndësishme që mësuam është se, pavarësisht nga madhësia e shtetit, është thelbësore të ndërtojmë qëndrueshmëri kibernetike kombëtare dhe të krijojmë bashkëpunim të fortë me aleatët dhe me partnerët tanë. Kjo na çon në çështjen thelbësore të zinxhirit të furnizimit, i cili përbën një nga dobësitë më serioze globalisht. Çrregullimet globale, duke filluar nga pandemia deri te kompleksiteti në rritje i zinxhirëve të furnizimit industrial dhe të mbrojtjes, kanë ekspozuar brishtësinë e këtyre rrjeteve.

Aggressive behavior by state and non-state actors impedes our ability to maintain stable supply chains that are essential to the production of military goods and defense operations. The disruptions and risks to supply chains around the world coincide with NATO's decision to increase defense funding at the Washington Summit. NATO Allies have taken important steps to strengthen the resilience and protection of our defense industries. These increased budgets represent not only an investment in military equipment, but also a commitment to provide the industrial infrastructure that supports them. Albania, as a member of NATO, has understood the strategic requirement for the creation of a strong defense industry to implement NATO's deterrence and defense strategy.

As a result, Albania has fully aligned NATO's New Defense Industry Commitment and carried out a complete review of strategic documents and legal framework to address the revival of the defense industry. To be honest, this meeting takes place at a very decisive moment for the revival of our defense industry, when only at the end of the summer session of the parliament we managed to pass a series of laws, which have already started their implementation and very soon we will have the first results.

Where the new regulatory framework promotes the development of defense industrial capabilities and improves the implementation of standards to increase interoperability and security, while also removing barriers to trade and investment between allies and partners. In this broader framework, the transition of Albania from a security consumer to a security provider in the region is clearly observed. Our strategic interests are in line with those of Western democracies, they are in line with the requirements of NATO and the EU. We are very aware of the growing challenges in the region, which include manipulation of information, destabilization efforts and hostile acts by third countries regarding political interests of course in the first place, but then also economic ones in one of the most hot that of the Western Balkans.

Industrial security is therefore critical to our collective defense; without it, we compromise our military capability base. In this context, the Multinational Industrial Safety Working Group (MISIG) plays an essential role in addressing these issues. This group promotes international cooperation, to ensure that international best practices for industrial safety are shared among partners, improved and harmonized among like-minded member countries. Through this collaboration, we can improve industrial security for intergovernmental programs and projects, protecting classified and sensitive information from current and future threats.

The topic that will stimulate professional discussions among you during this week is undoubtedly "SUSTAINABLE COOPERATION." Sustained cooperation in industrial security is necessary to ensure the protection of classified information in critical infrastructures and the defense industry. To establish sustainable security measures, a comprehensive approach must be followed, involving government agencies, the private sector, our allies and partners.

Participants can solve industrial security issues in the most effective way by sharing best practices, technological advances and intelligence information that is already being developed and more. Furthermore, linking these efforts to the international security framework as well as NATO standards ensures that defense funds are properly spent on joint multilateral projects and that classified information is protected across national borders. Sustained collaboration promotes a unified response, ensuring industrial resilience in an ever-evolving security habitat.

Protecting classified information is critical to ensuring the integrity of our defense businesses. Today's concerns extend beyond the acquisition of physical items; adversaries actively aim to break into digital infrastructures and steal valuable data. Today the war, as we said, is not just conventional, but it is a virtual war, which takes place day by day, and the fact that Albania has passed one of the most difficult tests in 2022, is the right place to gather and share with each other all the experience that we created from a powerful enemy, which virtually hit one of the countries of the Western Balkans, but on the other hand, Albania plays a facilitating role within the countries of the Western Balkans, as one of the countries with sustainability, with peace and security at the highest level.

In closing I want to wish you all a successful and fruitful week. I want to make a call to you which is outside this panel and has to do with the fact that you are in Albania. So in addition to the good work, in addition to the experiences that you will share with each other, the best practices, give yourself some time and I think that the colleagues who run this forum, the Albanian colleagues, will do their best to introduce you with one of the most interesting places for tourist development.

We have just closed the numbers and reconciled from January 1 to August 31, Albania was visited by 8.5 million visitors. It is one of the most interesting places, because in a very small territory, God has put together the sea, high mountains, people with big hearts and, moreover, with the excellent culinary art.

Therefore, I would call on the Albanian organizing group to show their best hospitality skills, to show everyone who Albania really is, that apart from security and stability, it has much more to offer.

Many thanks for your attention. It was a pleasure and an honor to be here with you today and I hope that this forum will bear the best fruits of cooperation and of course information sharing between the parties.

Many thanks for your attention!/ CNA