MEMORANDUM

TO: H.E. Charles Michel, Prime Minister of Belgium

FROM: Bianca Mara Pop
SUBJECT: Priority themes for the upcoming NATO Brussels Summit
DATE: May 2017

The NATO Brussels Summit is going to take place in May 2017, shaping therefore the action plan
of the Alliance for shorter and longer term. In order to surpass not only the difficulties the Alliance
is facing, but also Belgium, it is necessary to take immediate action upon tackling the arising issues.
Belgium must address three key challenges at the upcoming NATO Brussels Summit in order to
assure not only its own safety, but also the Alliances as a whole. In the past years, Belgium, and
other NATO member states dealt with the greatest number of threats since the end of the Cold War.
The challenges Belgium would like to put on the NATO Brussels Summit agenda are:

1. Securing the cyberspace at an international level

2. Combating terrorism multilaterally, not unilaterally
3. Engaging in a closer military cooperation within the Alliance

Strengthening the Belgium - NATO cooperation on defeating cyber terrorism

In the recent years Belgium and the institutions it hosts on its territory, have been plagued by
hackers. Most recently, in 2016, hackers claimed a successful attack upon the Belgian National
Bank, following attacks on the websites of the Belgian Agency for Nuclear Control, the Federal
Crisis Centre, and also the Federal Cyber Emergency Team. Even though Belgium places great
significance on making the cyberspace safe for its people, it receives insufficient guidance,
coordination and cooperation from the NATO. In 2012 Belgium adopted a Cyber Security Strategy,
tackling cyber issues on its own. However, the cyberspace is based on interconnectivity, no borders
being present within the cyberspace, being therefore hard to deal with cyber issues on its own.

In order to prevent future breakdowns in the cyber domain, the NATO Brussels Summit should
place greater importance on the cyberspace. It can do this by opening the talks for regulating at the
international level the cyberspace, creating therefore international laws that could be applied solely
to the cyber domain. The Alliance could also create or transform the NATO Cooperative Cyber
Defense Centre of Excellence in a body directly linked to NATO, where all member states can and
should contribute with human resources, vital information and knowledge. A Hub for Cyberspace
would be a great place to discuss new ways of preventing cyber attacks. Belgium is a supporter of
close cooperation between partner states and strongly believes that cyberspace cannot be dealt with
unilaterally.

Countering terrorism measures should be deepen within the Alliance

In 2016 three suicide bombings occurred in Belgium with thirty-two civilians killed and more than
300 injured. In the past years, NATO member states dealt with a large number of terrorist attacks
and thousands of casualties. Terrorism will continue to pose a direct threat to the security of the
member states, being a continuous challenge to the international community. NATO has been
developing capabilities in order to respond and counter terrorist attacks from happening for some
years now, but the solutions did not prove to be very efficient since most of the job is being done at
national level. Because of the emerging threat that terrorism poses, the reform of counter terrorism
measures should be placed on this years Summits agenda in Brussels.

The NATO Brussels Summit should reassess the Counter-Terrorism Policy Guidelines and focus
more on capabilities of countering terrorist threats, rather than just raising awareness. Also,
terrorism implies new ways of creating disruptions within states, the Alliance needing to be one step
ahead of the terrorists, this implying better understanding of the phenomenon, investing first of all
in human capabilities. New capabilities and technologies should be taken into consideration. Of
course, cooperation between partners should be deepened by closer cooperation in the field of
intelligence mostly.

The Alliance will be stronger if closer military cooperation will be implemented

Recently there have been a lot of debates about how the future of NATO should look like. Several
events taking place at the Eastern border of the Alliance made member states question NATOs
ability to protect its members in case of an attack.

Belgium always supported close military cooperation between NATO-allies. Cooperation should be
made through pooling and sharing military capabilities, states being able to increase operational
needs while at the same time decrease defense spendings. This would allow states to make new
investments and contribute to closing military capability gaps, proving therefore Eastern countries
that NATO is willing to assure its borders, no matter the region of these borders.

By addressing these themes, Belgium will be able to combat the 21st centurys security threats,
while at the same time consolidating the Alliance in these times of great need.