Donor Coordination Meeting Strengthens Cybersecurity Support in the Western Balkans

03.07.2025

On the margins of the CyberPulse 2025 conference hosted by the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) jointly with Western Balkans Cyber Capacity Centre, DG ENEST convened its regular Donor Coordination Meeting.

The meeting gathered senior officials, donors, beneficiaries, international organizations and regional experts to align cyber capacity-building efforts in the Western Balkans, ensuring that support is coordinated, complementary and responsive to regional needs.

Key Highlights

Launch of the IISG Cybersecurity Database – a new mapping tool that identifies ongoing projects, donor contributions and unmet needs in the region. The database will serve as a practical resource for avoiding duplication and guiding the allocation of resources.
Priority alignment – open exchanges between donors and beneficiaries helped to harmonize priorities and optimize international support across key areas such as cybersecurity, cybercrime and cyber diplomacy.
Strategic coordination – participants emphasized the need for regular use of the IISG Cybersecurity Database to track initiatives, identify gaps and ensure that new projects respond to real needs.

Way Forward

Donor monitoring: keep track of active contributors (EU, Council of Europe, OSCE, USA, the Netherlands and others) and their respective areas of intervention.
Internal follow-up: establish a register of donor projects based on the IISG Database and synchronize future initiatives with RCC and WB3C coordination efforts.
Visibility and synergies: ensure WB3C projects are included in the IISG Database to enhance regional cooperation.

The Donor Coordination Meeting underlined the importance of structured collaboration and transparency, setting the stage for stronger, better aligned and more impactful cyber capacity-building initiatives in the Western Balkans.

Following the broader Donor Coordination Meeting, DG ENEST convened a focused session with leading implementing partners in the region—including WB3C, ENISA, the e-Governance Academy, the Council of Europe and RCC—to explore how to maximize impact through closer collaboration and coordination. WB3C used this opportunity to present its comprehensive multi-year training programme across its three pillars, several of which are delivered jointly with partners. In parallel, WB3C is leading ongoing negotiations with DG ENEST on funding our regional programmes, reinforcing our role as a central hub for cyber capacity building in the Western Balkans.

Other news and events

Combatting Disinformation and FIMI

A very productive meeting this morning with the Atlantic Council of Montenegro, led by Mr. Savo Kentera, President and CEO, together with his team Azra Karastanović and Draško Jabučanin. The Western Balkans Cyber Capacity Centre (WB3C) was represented by its Head Gilles Schwoerer and the team: Vanja Madzgalj MBE, Cyril C. and Yannick Casse.

Building on our previous engagements, including the national Round Table on Critical Infrastructure and the 2BS Forum, WB3C is further strengthening this collaboration to address pressing regional challenges.

Our discussions highlighted significant common interests in two crucial areas: critical infrastructure resilience and countering disinformation and foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI).

This prospective partnership reflects a shared commitment to strengthening regional security and societal resilience against interference and information manipulation. We look forward to developing concrete actions and contributing meaningfully to these important efforts.

Developing Future Cyber Talent Through Early Interventions in Schools

WB3C paid a visit to the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation this week. We met with the State Secretary Calasan Tatjana to introduce WB3C’s work and share an overview of our plans for 2026, with a focus on education, young people and cooperation with universities. We talked about practical ways to support foundational awareness and cyber skills in schools and development of academic learning pathways such as micro-credentials and new degree programmes in cybersecurity and digital forensics in universities.

The meeting was also a chance to update the Ministry on how WB3C is developing as an international organization and how our role in Montenegro and the region is growing, as well as to explore how we could work more closely in the future.
We appreciated the open and constructive exchange, and the shared understanding that investing early in digital skills and cyber awareness really matters.
Looking forward to continuing the conversation and building on this momentum.

Cyber Hygiene Training for Ministry of European Affairs of Montenegro

Today we start a short CyberHygiene training for colleagues at Montenegro’s Ministry of European Affairs. The training is led by WB3C-s in-house trainers Cyril C. and Yannick Casse.
Over the two days, we will work through the threats civil servants face most often — phishing, malware/ransomware and social engineering — and the practical habits that reduce risk without needing to advance technical skills such as: safer daily practices, data confidentiality and clear incident response basics.
A reminder worth repeating: cyber hygiene is organizational hygiene. Firewalls and policies help, but day-to-day resilience is built in small decisions made across the institution. Every civil servant counts.
A simple checklist that pays off:
⚠️ Pause before you click (especially “urgent” emails)
⚠️ Use strong passwords/passphrases + multi-factor authentication where available
⚠️ Keep devices and apps updated
⚠️ Report suspicious activity early—speed matters

Director Gilles Schwoerer greeted the participants by emphasizing that cybersecurity culture doesn’t start in the IT department, but it starts in each inbox. We are very pleased to welcome the behind-the-scenes force driving Montenegro's successful advancement towards the EU accession and to share that WB3C is expecting its first multi-year EU grant in March this year, aimed at supporting the region in meeting the requirements from the cyber agenda and strengthening its overall resilience, especially its critical infrastructure. We look forward to joining forces with ministries around the region in 2026 - a year expected to bring a dynamic plan of activities.