PCTR Newsletter (5/2015)
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PCTR Newsletter 5/2015 PCTR / CEVRO INSTITUT Jungmannova 17 / 110 00 Praha 1 / Czech Republic tel.: + 420 221 506 737 email: [email protected] / www.cevroinstitut.cz 0 PCTR Newsletter 5/2015 str. 2 PCTR Bulletin On 12th May, the PCTR hosted a press conference about the policy paper "The Czech Republic in the Common Security and Defence Policy of the EU: Audit and Perspectives". The policy paper was published with the support of the European Commission Representation in the Czech Republic, and RWE Česká republika. The press conference was opened by Jan Michal, Representative of the European Commission in the Czech Republic. Furthermore, the event was attended by some of the authors of the publication: . Petr Nečas, former Prime Minister of the Czech Republic . Col. prof. Jan Österreicher, coordinator of Security Studies at the CEVRO Institute and Director of the Military Health Institute of the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic . Pavel Štalmach, former First Deputy Minister of Defence and Chairman of the Crisis Staff of the Ministry of Defence . Alexandr Vondra, Director of the PCTR Jan Michal spoke not only about issues connected with the creation of a common EU defence policy, but also about the perspectives and potential of a "European army". Then, Alexandr Vondra took the floor. He said: "The Czech Republic should not turn its back on the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), and we should not ignore it. In fact, the their territory was permanently stationed should be involved in these debates and cooperate with countries that have similar interests." He also spoke about the creation of the policy paper itself. However, Mr. Vondra claimed that we do not have any alternative to NATO membership in the current security situation. Then, Petr Nečas spoke about the recent elections in the United Kingdom and the danger of the UK leaving the EU as a result of the promised referendum on remaining in the EU. "It is important for the EU to have a system of checks and balances against Germany. The only two states able to face Germany are France and the UK. European politicians should be extremely helpful towards David Cameron, help him to change the 1 PCTR Newsletter 5/2015 principal agreements and do anything that could keep the UK in the EU.str. A 2common European policy without Great Britain cannot work," he said. His speech was followed by those by Col. prof. Jan Österreicher and the security expert Dr. Pavel Štalmach. Petr Nečas also spoke about the consequences of the UK’s possible exit from the EU and the fragmentation of the country itself, saying that if Scotland separated, the UK would no longer be the traditional bridge between the US and Europe. At the same time, the importance of the UK would diminish, the country would lose its superpower status and Europe as a whole would lose some of its deterrent potential. Mr. Nečas also recapitulated the developments in the security environment over the past sixty years. The PTCR organized also an international conference dedicated to cyber security and national defense attended by leading experts from Europe and Israel. The event took place on May 28 in the atrium of the CEVRO Institute. The main partners of the conference were IBM Czech Republic and RWE Česká republika. The PCTR director Alexander Vondra opened the conference. The first speaker was General Petr Pavel, former Chief of Staff of the Army and elected Chairman of the NATO Military Committee. Gen. Pavel began his speech with the emergence of hybrid war and then devoted himself extensively to the phenomenon of "cyber war". Gen. Petr Pavel, among other things, said that NATO is debating whether a cyber-attack is to be considered as a reason for the activation of Art. 5 of NATO's Washington Treaty. In other words if it can be seen as equal to a conventional attack. 2 PCTR Newsletter 5/2015 Following that, Daniel Koštoval, the Deputy Minister of Defense, spoke not only about the cyber str. 2 security on the Alliance level, but also on the national level. Daniel Koštoval said that it is necessary to ensure the protection of the population in cooperation with private sector. Mr. Koštoval claimed that the Czech Republic may soon become one of the leaders in this field. Another speaker, Dušan Navratil (the Director of the National Security Office), said that the Czech Republic is still strengthening its ability to defend itself against cyber-attacks and he also added that private sector and public sector have to work closely together. The last speaker of the first part of the program was Bruce Wynn (Air Commodore - ret., Cyber Advisor and Consultant). He focused on cyber security in private sector, but also its relationship to public sector. Furthermore, he stated that it is necessary in this field to think like a criminal would that means in context - it is necessary to be ready = who is prepared, is not surprised. He spoke about problems associated with the alienation of personal data and cooperation between London and New York police. After the first break, another speech followed, this time by Dmitry Adamski from Israeli IDC in Herzliya. He dealt with the emergence of potential Russian hybrid and Information Warfare and compared it with NATO member states. D. Adamski, among other things, said that we are at the beginning of a new era in which war will be fought in cyberspace, and all powers, including Russia, are trying to learn how to use this new capability. Prof. Šarunas Liekis from Vilnius University further developed Adamski's speech as he spoke about specific threats from Russia to the Baltic States. He further noted that the major IT pioneer in the Baltics is Estonia, where residents literally live under the supervision of "big brother". The last speaker of the second part of the program was Daniel Bagge from the Czech National Security Office, who spoke about the challenges that the Czech Republic is facing. The last panel began with John Palfreyman from IBM, who spoke about the so-called Cyber-crime and explained what are the latest threats we face and how they evolved. The penultimate speaker was Aleš Špidla, who spoke about the vulnerability of ISCS / SCADA systems, which are used in strategic and industrial sectors. He stated that the aim of the attackers is to knock out strategic 3 PCTR Newsletter 5/2015 targets and cause destruction, damage or even loss of lives, and disruption of order (it is sufficient for str. 2 the attacker to, for example, insert deliberately erroneous data into the information chain). The last speaker was Ofir Hason from the Israeli CyberGym, who focused on cyber warfare from the perspective of the Israelis. According to Mr. Hason, important are the role of secret services and cooperation between public and private sectors, which in practice may even collaborate with the secret service (in the case of CyberGym - Shin Bet). He also added that the weakest link in the chain is human factor. Finally, he said that an attack on critical infrastructure has to always be conducted by coordinated groups (perhaps a state) - it is not to be expected from individuals. The conference concluded with a final word by the Chairman of the Board of the CEVRO Institute, Ivan Langer. We also thank for support CyberGym, Vytautas Magnus University in Vilnius and the International Institute for Counter-Terorrism (ICT) at the university IDC Herzliya. Besides the huge interest when it was not possible due to the limited capacity to satisfy all candidates published a series of responses at the conference in the media - e.g.: . České noviny . Aktuálně.cz . Eurozprávy . Týden . ITBis.cz . Parlamentní Listy . The Prague Post 4 PCTR Newsletter 5/2015 Events in Euro - Atlantic relationsstr. 2 (May 2015) On 3rd May, the German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung published information about NATO seeking the re-establishment of a red line between NATO and Russia. The "red phone" would serve to avoid misunderstandings in the event of crisis scenarios. http://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/ausland/europa/nato-richtet-direkten-draht-zum-russischen- militaer-ein-13571143.html On 4th May, anti-submarine exercise Dynamics Mongoose 2015 started off the Norwegian coast. In addition to ten NATO member countries, the Kingdom of Sweden participated. The exercise focused on anti-submarine warfare and was carried out under the command of COMSUBNATO (Common Submarine Command NATO) and the Standing NATO Maritime Group 2. The commander of the exercise was US Rear Admiral Brad Williamson. http://navaltoday.com/2015/05/04/dynamic-mongoose-2015-begins/ On 4th May, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that in 2016, a civilian-led mission "Enduring Partnership" will begin in Afghanistan. Although led by civilians, the mission will also have a military part. The mission, which aims to help the legitimate Afghan government fight the Taliban movement, will begin this autumn. "The next phase of the Alliance's presence will be long-term and will focus on specific security and development needs of Afghanistan," said Afghan Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani. http://www.natoaktual.cz/na_media.aspx?r=na_media&c=A150515_002656_na_media_m02 Army General Petr Pavel resigned as Chief of Staff. On the last day of April, he published a personal message on the website of the Ministry of Defense, looking back at his tenure as Chief of Staff, and reflecting on his future function as Chairman of NATO's Military Committee. General Pavel handed over his duties to his successor, General Josef Bečvář, on 4th May 2015, during a ceremony at Prague's Vítkov Memorial. http://www.rozhlas.cz/zpravy/politika/_zprava/josef-becvar-je-novym-nacelnikem-generalniho-stabu- vystridal-petra-pavla--1485728, http://www.acr.army.cz/informacni-servis/zpravodajstvi/general-pavel:-stat-v-cele-armady-byla-pro- mne-velka-zkusenost-109413/ Grand celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II took place across the Czech Republic.