The British Embassy Athens, British Embassy Sofia, and British High Commission Nicosia, in collaboration with the Office of the Greek National Security Advisor, recently organized a two-day conference focusing on energy security and the protection of critical national infrastructure. This event, held at the Security Studies Centre of the Ministry of Citizen Protection on February 24-25, 2025, brought together experts from various ministries, state authorities, and the energy sector from Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, and the UK.
The conference provided a platform for these experts to exchange views and best practices on various topics, including:
– Legal and Operational Challenges: Participants discussed the legal frameworks and operational strategies for ensuring energy security and protecting critical national infrastructure.
– Criticality Assessments: Experts shared their experiences and methodologies for assessing the criticality of energy infrastructure and supply chains.
– Critical Maritime and Subsea Infrastructure: The conference highlighted the importance of securing maritime and subsea infrastructure, such as pipelines and transmission cables, which are crucial for energy supply.
– Resilience Policy: Participants explored policies and strategies for building resilience in energy systems, including the role of diversity, redundancy, and flexibility.
– Incident Response: Experts discussed best practices for responding to incidents, such as cyber attacks or physical disruptions, that could impact energy security.
– Interoperability Models: The conference examined models for ensuring interoperability between different energy systems, technologies, and stakeholders.
– Defence Strategies: Participants explored defence strategies for protecting energy infrastructure and supply chains from various threats.
– International Cooperation: The importance of international cooperation in ensuring energy security and protecting critical national infrastructure was emphasized.
A cross-government UK delegation from the Cabinet Office, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Ministry of Defence, and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office participated in the conference, demonstrating the UK’s commitment to addressing these critical issues.
