Migration, terrorism, hybrid threats in focus at parliamentary NATO conference

Mass migration, terrorism, hybrid threats, fake news and growing nationalism in Ukraine were in focus at the 21st International Parliamentary NATO Conference organised in Budapest on Thursday.

In his opening address, deputy parliamentary speaker Csaba Hende said international relations were characterised by uncertainty and unpredictability. In recent years, the threats facing the Euro-Atlantic region have grown more serious and complex, he told the conference.

Threats like hybrid warfare, mass migration and its links to terrorism require new, joint solutions from NATO member states, Hende said.

He said cyberspace has become one of the most critical “battlefields” in the world today on which attacks can range from the disruption of the decision-making mechanisms of countries to serious attacks on a country’s critical infrastructure.

The former defence minister said that 50,000 people fall victim to cyber crime every hour. Citing estimates, he said 4 billion people are expected to be online and some 76 billion smart devices are expected to be in use by 2020.

He said that online anonymity and today’s modern communications tools allow terrorist organisations to reach and potentially recruit more and more young people.

Hende highlighted the importance of social support for combatting the threat of terrorism and hybrid threats.

Péter Siklósi, the defence ministry’s deputy state secretary for defence policy, said that significant economic, demographic, military and environmental changes in the world have worsened the global security situation over the past years. Social media has at the same time become a platform for information “warfare”, he noted.

Siklósi said the number of so-called “fallen regimes” was expected to increase in the future, adding that in the post-Soviet and Balkan region, “frozen” conflicts were expected to re-open and new ones would develop.