EU, NATO set up joint task force to protect critical infrastructure

The European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have agreed to set up a task force to better protect critical infrastructure and increase resilience, top officials announced here on Wednesday.

"We want to look together at how to make our critical infrastructure, technology and supply chains more resilient to potential threats, and to take action to mitigate potential vulnerabilities," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at a joint press conference with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Xinhua news agency reported.

Von der Leyen said the sabotage last September of the Nord Stream gas pipelines that run under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany showed the need to confront this new type of threat.

The task force, which will bring together experts from both sides, will identify key threats to critical infrastructure and their strategic vulnerabilities, and propose mitigating measures and remedial actions.

The fields to be covered include transport, energy, digital and space, according to von der Leyen.

Two explosions damaged the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines at the end of September.

The pipelines were blown up deliberately, according to local authorities.

--IANS

int/pgh