Q4/2019 - Nato Summit

The NATO Summit held on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Western Defence Alliance on 3 and 4 December in London did not set any new or additional focus with regard to NATO's cyber strategy. The final declaration reaffirms NATO's position that cyber is an independent dimension of NATO defence and that the Alliance must be prepared to respond to cyber attacks and hybrid warfare.  A contentious issue at the Summit was how to deal with the Chinese company Huawei in connection with the establishment of 5G networks in NATO member countries. There was no unanimous position. However, the final declaration points out that China – although it does not belong to the North Atlantic region – presents a problem for NATO: “We recognise that China’s growing influence and international policies present both opportunities and challenges that we need to address together as an Alliance.”^[1]