WITH INA FOR COFFEE:  H. E. William De Baets, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium in Croatia

By Ina Stašević, Croatia/Europe:

This year, on November 13, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium, His Excellency William De Baets, hosted a reception at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb to celebrate Belgium’s King’s Day.
This special day has a long tradition that dates back to November 15, 1886, the name day of Leopold and Albert. The holiday was first celebrated in honor of King Leopold I (1790-1865), who was the first King of the Belgians after its independence from the Netherlands in 1831. 
King's Day is an opportunity to cherish the unity of Belgium in its multicultural diversity. It is also a moment that celebrates friendship, strengthens existing ones and creates new ones.
A great time spent, I changed the topic of chocolate and beer to the always interesting politics.
On the occasion of King’s Day, I speak with H.E. William De Baets.

How can we increase Europe’s cybersecurity resilience, how can we mitigate the risks?
This is a complex question, but you are right: Europe is being tested by increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks that form part of wider hybrid threats. Only a coordinated and comprehensive approach can provide effective defense, involving tools of defense, police, diplomacy, businesses, and technology. Against cybercriminals operating internationally and unconstrained by borders, defense requires a common European approach and, where possible, global cooperation.
The EU has been working on this for quite some years and already has a strong legislative toolbox to fight against cybercrime and to strengthen cybersecurity in all its member states. The Directive on Attacks Against Information Systems strengthens the cooperation between national and Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre. The Network and Information Security Directive 2 requires all countries to adopt a national cyber strategy and sets stricter security requirements within a unified legal framework across the EU. The Cyber Solidarity Act and the Cyber Resilience Act strengthen preparedness, detection and response to large-scale cyber incidents and require manufacturers to ensure cybersecurity for their products. Additional tools exist for specific sectors, such as finance, and funding supports cybersecurity competence centres. In essence, the EU is working on  its digital sovereignty by strengthening its cybersecurity resilience with a combination of technological and operational capacity and adequate legislation.

US President Donald Trump recently imposed the first significant package of sanctions on Russia, targeting two leading oil giants, Lukoil and Rosneft. These moves come at a time when peace efforts to end the war have stalled, despite diplomatic activity. What is your position on this?
As we can all see on a daily basis, the situation is volatile: last week, Belgian airspace had to be closed several times due to drones flying over military and civil airports. Flights were cancelled and air traffic paralyzed, with considerable economic costs. This demonstrates that the use of hybrid threats is on the rise and that our enemies will not hesitate to destabilize our societies without using expensive military means.
In this context, the conflict in Ukraine, following the unlawful full-scale invasion by Russia requires an approach based on the unity of the European Union and unwavering support for Ukraine. The latest package of EU sanctions sends an additional signal to Russia and those helping it to circumvent the sanctions.
The recent American sanctions show the willingness of the United States to also increase the pressure on Russia to negotiate an immediate ceasefire. It is a very important step towards resolving this horrendous conflict and we can only welcome it as lasting peace on the European continent also depends on it.