This MoU establishes and strengthens the structural cooperation on the protection of critical infrastructure. Agreements have been made regarding the sharing of knowledge and experience, for example about methodologies for detecting threats, risk assessments, and resilience strategies. By exchanging knowledge and experience, both countries can optimize the protection of critical infrastructures. The Netherlands will also provide support for legislative development in line with EU guidelines in this area. This MoU is a concrete implementation of the Agreement on Security Cooperation that was signed between the Netherlands and Ukraine in March 2024.
Minister Van Weel:
“Critical infrastructure can include energy plants and drinking water supplies. Ukraine has been facing attacks on its critical infrastructure for years, and there are also hybrid threats in the Netherlands. As an important transit country, the Netherlands has a lot of knowledge and experience in the field of protecting critical infrastructure. We can support Ukraine in this, but the reverse is also true. There is currently no country from which we can learn more than Ukraine. For example, critical infrastructures are implemented in duplicate or even more often, so that there are always alternatives available in case of a failure of a facility. And Ukraine has its primary facilities well organized, by building up and maintaining reserves and the ability to recover quickly. This has given the country great endurance, something we can learn a lot from in the Netherlands.”
Minister Van Weel also visited the Tripilski power plant and the Cyber Security Center in Kyiv as part of resilience efforts.