Statements by the Republic of Finland
Open-Ended Working Group on Developments in the Field of Information and
Telecommunications in the Context of International Security
Virtual Informal Consultations 19 June and 2 July 2020
Statement 1 delivered 19 June 2020
Mr. Chair,
At the outset, I wish to join others in thanking you for convening these informal meetings and
your relentless efforts to lead the work of this group towards a successful completion of its
mandate.
My delegation aligns itself with the statement by the European Union. In addition, we have few
general remarks relating to the way forward and the report.
As many other delegates before me, I wish to express my delegation’s full support for the
Chair’s work plan for our way forward. We think the work plan is realistic in light of the serious
impact the ongoing pandemic continues to have, almost in every country around the globe. The
plan as proposed by the Chair will helps us to adapt our work to these exceptional circumstances
in so as to bring our mandate to successful completion.
We are also very much supportive of the pre-draft from the Chair. We believe the draft provides
a solid basis for further deliberation by this Working Group. As several delegates have
suggested, we also see some merit in clarifying some of the formulations in the draft report in
order to clearly reflect the convergence or divergence of States’ views expressed during our
discussions in the Working Group.
As for the question on whether the current global situation revealed additional or amplified
existing threats, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us of the pressing need to
strengthen global cooperation to enhance global cyber resilience in order to prevent malicious
behavior and advance stability in cyberspace and beyond. Ater all, chain is no stronger than its
weakest link in the interconnected cyber domain.
There has been a worrisome surge in malicious cyber activities taking advantage of the
vulnerabilities in the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, targeting critical infrastructures
including the healthcare sector. Such malicious activities may not only put people’s lives at risk
but, if left unabated, also undermine and threaten security and stability of the global community.
Against this backdrop, we are supportive of the suggestion by Czech Republic and several other
delegations to attach special attention to various threat and protective aspects of critical
infrastructures highlighted by the current situation in the final report. Any attempt to disrupt and