Over recent years, the Eastern Partnership countries have faced significant political and security challenges. Overall reliance on technology has increased in the region, particularly since the COVID-19 crisis, together with vulnerabilities to criminal activities in cyberspace.
Addressing cybercrime, enhancing interagency cooperation, and enabling disclosure of electronic evidence have become increasingly important, including in the context of possible war crimes committed during the Russian aggression against Ukraine since 2022.
Since 2019, the European Commission and the Council of Europe have been working together to improve cyber resilience in the region under the umbrella of the CyberEast project. This is an integral part of the EU4Digital initiative – the EU’s flagship regional programme to support digital transformation and the harmonisation of digital markets in the Eastern Partnership countries.
Building on the lessons learnt from the successful first phase of CyberEast, the two organisations have launched the second phase. This new phase will step-up the fight against cybercrime, notably through implementation of the Budapest Cybercrime Convention, as well as assistance to improve policies and legislation and promote cooperation between criminal justice and cybersecurity communities. The project will also strengthen operational skills and institutional setup of cybercrime units in law enforcement and judicial authorities dealing with cybercrime and electronic evidence.
The European Commission’s contribution to this project is EUR 3.5 million from 2024 to 2027.