NATO Allies and industry representatives met at NATO Headquarters in Brussels on Friday to discuss how developments in the Middle East could affect energy security and the protection of critical undersea infrastructure.
The talks were held within NATO’s Critical Undersea Infrastructure (CUI) Network, focusing on energy vulnerabilities and the security of undersea assets across NATO’s area of responsibility, the NATO press service announced.
The meeting was chaired by Ambassador Jean-Charles Ellermann-Kingombe, NATO’s Assistant Secretary General for Cyber and Digital Transformation and Special Coordinator for Hybrid Threats.
Participants received briefings from the NATO Energy Security Centre of Excellence and NATO’s Allied Maritime Command, and shared views on potential scenarios and measures related to energy and CUI security.
Energy security and NATO’s core tasks
“This is not only a question of energy markets. It is a matter of security, resilience and preparedness closely related to NATO’s core tasks — deterrence and defence,” Ellermann-Kingombe said in remarks released by NATO.
“Energy security is vital in ensuring our warfighting capacity,” he added.
