Significant Progress to Enhance Europe's Resilience Against Hybrid Threats

The Communication contributes to the creation of a European Union that protects, as promised by President Juncker in the 2016 State of the Union speech. It builds on initiatives in the area of defence, such as the European Defence Fund and the unprecedented level of cooperation between the EU-NATO that has developed over the past year.

Significant progress has been made on each of the 22 actions to combat hybrid threats identified last year. The EU has improved its awareness and the information exchange between Member States on these growing security threats, which often combine conventional and unconventional methods, ranging from terrorism and cyber-attacks to disinformation campaigns or media manipulation.

The EU has also made headway in protecting critical infrastructure in areas such as transport, energy, cybersecurity, and the financial system, as well as in counter violent extremism and radicalisation. But more remains to be done, as the nature of hybrid threats continues to evolve.

The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini said: "Hybrid threats are a major security concern for the European Union, its Member States and our partners. We are working to improve the awareness of the threats through the EU Hybrid Fusion Cell, to monitor and counter illegal online content and propaganda with our Strategic Communication task forces, to enhance the capacities of third countries and to step up our cooperation with NATO. This is at the core of our Global Strategy adopted last year. The safeguard of our society is a priority for the EU.