Cybercrime

The CyberEast+ project, a joint initiative of the European Union and of the Council of Europe, held its fourth Steering Committee meeting on 5 June 2026 in Strasbourg, France. The meeting gathered law enforcement officials, legislators, representatives from the European Commission, alongside project partners from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the e-Governance Academy (e-GA).

In his opening remarks, Mr Stefano Guardati, representative of the DG ENEST, emphasised that, in the context of increased Russian disinformation campaigns and foreign interference, ahead of the elections in Armenia, the European Commission provides an extensive support package for Armenia’s democratic decisions, including by strengthening the capacities of public authorities to counter hybrid and cyber threats. He acknowledged that the CyberEast+ project has been instrumental in supporting Eastern partnership countries in ensuring an effective criminal justice response to cybercrime offences as well as to the cyber related threats, through a tailored approach, responding to the unique needs of is project countries.

The Head of the Cybercrime Programme Office of the Council of Europe (C-PROC) emphasised the EU Commission’s ongoing support and highlighted that, in spite of the geopolitical challenges emanating from the Eastern Partnership region, CyberEast+ has provided pertinent assistance to its project countries, especially to Armenia and Ukraine through hands-on cyber exercises designed to combat election interference and critical infrastructure attacks.

The participants assessed the effectiveness of the current project strategy and took stock of the achievements made in the reporting timeframe.  Partner authorities also took note of the current cybercrime threat landscape, presented though updated Cyber Barometer Reports / National studies of cybercrime threats, victims, reporting, offenders and criminal groups, completed in 2026 for Amenia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.

Key stakeholders provided updates on the state of play in terms of legislation, policies, capacities and cooperation on cyber resilience in Armenia, Azerbaijan, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine in line with the Convention on Cybercrime (Budapest Convention) and its Second Additional Protocol.

The CyberEast+ counterparts reiterated their full commitment and their readiness to continue close co-operation with the CyberEast+ project, in order to achieve a stronger compliance with EU standards through sustained capacity building initiatives.

CyberEast+ project

Cybercrime Programme Office of the Council of Europe ( C-PROC)

Convention on Cybercrime (Budapest Convention)

Second Additional Protocol to the Cybercrime Convention, on enhanced co-operation and disclosure of electronic evidence 

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)

e-Governance Academy