MINSK, 27 September (BelTA) – It is necessary to scale up international digital cooperation and increase mutual trust in the information field, Belarus Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei said at the General Debate of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly on 26 September 2019 in New York, BelTA has learned.
“In the context of contradictions and increased competition between countries, cyberspace is increasingly becoming another arena for confrontation. We constantly hear about devastating hacker attacks. All this attests to the scale of the threats in this area, while it simultaneously emphasizes the need to expand interstate digital cooperation and enhance mutual trust in the information sphere,” Vladimir Makei said.
He mentioned the initiative of Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko to establish a “digital neighborhood belt”. The idea was put forward at the anti-terrorism conference in Minsk in early September. This initiative is about concluding bilateral and multilateral agreements aimed at ensuring international information security.
“Such agreements could be based on the ideas of digital sovereignty and neutrality, as well as on countries' non-interference in each other's information resources,” the minister noted. “Digital sovereignty should guarantee a country's ability to control its information field, prevent and block cyberattacks, and provide reliable protection for critical infrastructure. Digital neutrality means that countries should not take action in cyberspace that affects other states' security,” Vladimir Makei added.
Ultimately, such agreements can lay a foundation for designing international rules for responsible behavior in the virtual space, the diplomat added. “Belarus is ready to scale up cooperation with all countries, and with its neighbors, in particular, in order to enhance international information security,” Vladimir Makei said.
