Today, WB3C welcomed representatives of national cybersecurity authorities from the region for a four-day programme on NIS2 Strategic Leadership and Cyber Risk Management, organised in partnership with the The World Bank and with the involvement of the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA).

The programme addresses a central challenge facing the region: how to translate the requirements of the EU's NIS2 Directive into effective national cybersecurity governance, particularly when it comes to protecting critical infrastructure and essential services.

Welcoming the participants, our Programme Director Gilles Schwoerer highlighted the importance of strengthening institutional capacities and regional cooperation in responding to increasingly complex cyber threats.

Ghislain de  Salins (WB) and Tom Lenters (ENISA) contributed to bringing together the programme, combining expertise in institutional governance, cybersecurity risk management and European regulatory practices.

Over the next four days, participants will examine national cybersecurity frameworks, risk-based supervision, incident reporting and crisis management. Practical workshops and a strategic tabletop exercise will provide opportunities to apply these concepts to realistic scenarios, including cyber incidents with cross-border implications.

For the Western Balkans, alignment with NIS2 is both an important element of the EU accession process and an opportunity to strengthen national resilience. With essential services and infrastructure increasingly interconnected, effective cybersecurity governance also depends on cooperation across borders. 

The training is led by Konstantinos Moulinos, ENISA expert, Ilmar Toom of the Riigi Infosüsteemi Amet // Estonian Information System Authority (NCSC-EE) and Mladen Bukilic, CISO and SOC Manager of Čikom.

The programme forms part of the ongoing cooperation between WB3C and the World Bank, launched in May 2026, to support cybersecurity leadership and institutional capacity development across the region.

The eighth Western Balkans Digital Summit took place on 13 and 14 October, organised by Montenegro’s Ministry of Public Administration with the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) and the European Union. It was part of Montenegro’s 2026 chairmanship of the #BerlinProcess, and the Leaders’ Summit follows on 22 October. More than 150 people from the region’s governments, EU institutions, industry and civil society attended.
Our Programme Director, Gilles Schwoerer, moderated the panel on “Cybersecurity & Building a Secure Digital Environment”. He led a discussion with people who deal with these issues every day:
 ◽ Samir Orahovac, former Acting Director, Agencija za sajber bezbjednost Crne Gore / Cybersecurity Agency of Montenegro
◽Denisa Kurtagic, Programme Manager Cybersecurity, DCAF - Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance
◽Dusan Banovicć, Director, Service Development & Digital Transformation, Crnogorski Telekom
◽Vojtěch H. (Hons), EU Delegation, Sarajevo
 ◽Mladen Bukilic Bukilić, CISO/SOC Manager, Čikom

Having a regulator, a telecom operator, a SOC team, a donor and an EU delegation at one table is useful, because each of them sees a different part of the same weak spot. Digital identity, e-services and AI all rely on networks and institutions that can withstand an attack. 

The summit closed with a clear list of priorities for the region: mutual recognition of digital identities, digital identity wallets, more affordable roaming with the EU, improved connectivity and stronger cybersecurity cooperation. RCC Secretary General Amer Kapetanović said the task ahead is to connect the six economies, not only to digitalise them. It was a privilege for WB3C to moderate the cybersecurity discussion, and we look forward to the work that follows.

This week, we had the pleasure of welcoming a delegation of around 15 journalists from across the EU who came to Montenegro to better understand the hybrid threats the country is facing. The visit was supported by DG ENEST.
The group brought together reporters, editors and camera crews from L’Opinion and Le Nouvel Obs (France), Rai (Italy), Deutsche Welle (Germany), Deník N and TV Nova (Czechia), Kurier and Profil (Austria), and De Telegraaf (the Netherlands).
The programme included perspectives from two of Montenegro’s leading civil society voices invited by the EU Delegation in Montenegro, Zlatko Vujovic (CEMI) and Milica Kovačević (CDT), who shared their insights on how hybrid threats show up on the ground and what they mean for Montenegrin European perspective and upcoming general elections in 2027. 
On behalf of Western Balkans Cyber Capacity Centre (WB3C), Vanja Madzgalj MBE had the opportunity to show the journalists our facility and talk about our work, including our efforts on FIMI and disinformation. These are topics where good journalism and good cooperation matter a great deal. Our trainers for cybercrime Cyril CORRIAS and Jean-Pierre Bonnet (JP BNT) stirred particular interest in the work we do to support law enforcement and the judiciary in their fight against financial and crypto frauds, digital forensics, online and anti-drug investigations, cross-border trafficking, human smuggling, online sexual exploitation and much more. 

Thank you to our colleagues from DG ENEST, Jerneja Starič and Christina Moldt, and to Zeljka Lekic-Subasic from Ecorys for the smooth organisation. And thank you to all the journalists for your time, curiosity and the important work you do.
Hybrid threats don’t stop at borders, and neither should our conversations about them.