Hybrid Cyber Warfare and Common Security in Europe

The proposed project will address the hybridization of modern warfare, which has led to a multi-dimensional crisis both in Europe and worldwide after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. Because these recent developments blur the dividing line between ‘war’ and ‘peace’, the project will focus on cyber warfare as a key component of multi-layered hybrid strategies employed by hostile state actors and organized criminality to undermine peace and security in Europe. Building upon the European heritage of partnerships, the main objective of this research is to develop an exemplary model of effective legal and cyber measures that can become a foundation for a common principled approach to digital-security and fundamental freedoms in Eurasian countries with varying political, social and economic settings. Aimed not only at EU member states, but also at other countries which seek closer cooperation with the European Union, the research methodology will use an interdisciplinary approach at the intersection of cyber security and law to contribute to activities that can prevent malevolent hybrid strategies from prevailing and setting an undesirable precedent for future warfare campaigns. As opposed to the predominant focus on economic, labour and social dimensions of new technologies, this novel research considers the implications of progress in terms of issues related to technological sovereignty, safety of critical infrastructure and joint defence capabilities. My integration in the interdisciplinary group on ‘crime control and security law’ at UiT the Arctic University of Norway will be instrumental in complementing my knowledge of European/International Law and transitional justice with the latest cyber security expertise, transferring it to Ukraine and other EU partner countries as well as reaching a professorship to train next generations of experts, whose intersectoral cooperation will lay the ground for a coordinated response to hybrid warfare in Europe.