On February 20 the Ministry of National Defence hosted the sixth meeting of the EU CRRT Council, technical experts and observers of the project. Welcoming the gathering, Vice Minister of National Defence Greta Monika Tučkutė pointed out that the CRRT was in its full operational capability starting 2021 and ready to take different cyber incidents, as well as improve cyber resilience of EU members and partners.
According to Vice Minister, the force has a potential for much more visibility and activity within and beyond the EU.
“The CRRT Council Chair Lithuania has put together an ambitious action plan for the capability this year, it encompasses the various activation modes, exercises, technical expert training, etc. Moreover, we expect several new members in the project in 2024. Lithuania will continue working actively to further grow the skillset and readiness level of the CRRT,” said G. M. Tučkutė.
Belgium, Slovenia and Denmark became full-fledged members of the project in 2023. The current CRRT composition includes 16-18 cybersecurity experts delegated at national level by Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Croatia, Lithuania, Poland, Netherlands, Romania, and Slovenia. Four more countries are in the process of weighing the possibility to join the project.
Formed in PESCO framework in 2018, the EU CRRT offers assistance in managing cyber incidents or preventive measures (vulnerability assessment, election observation, etc.). The CRRT capability has been successfully tested in assisting such partner nations as Ukraine and Moldova, as well as the European Union Training Mission in Mozambique.
