More than 320 representatives from NATO countries and their allies, including Ukraine and Switzerland, attended the NATO Civil Protection Group Seminar from March 5 to 6 in Stockholm, Sweden, to exchange views and share best practices for securing critical supplies.
NATO said representatives from the European Commission and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development also attended the event that emphasized the private sector’s critical role and the alliance’s security efforts to strengthen supply chain resiliency among allied countries.
The event builds upon the NATO leaders’ commitment during the alliance’s 2021 summit in Brussels to boost member nation citizens’ resilience against all hazards.
Charlotte Petri Gornitzka, director-general of the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, the seminar host, cited the need for closer public-private cooperation to strengthen mutual understanding of risks across vital areas such as energy, food and water, health and continuity of government services. “This cooperation needs to be established in peacetime, and we have no time to lose,” she stressed.
NATO’s Civil Protection Group organized the two-day seminar, with Swedish Minister for Civil Defence Carl-Oskar Bohlin delivering the inaugural address.
Following the event, Sweden highlighted its March 7 accession as the 32nd NATO member, with ceremonies at Riksdag and Karlberg Palace in Stockholm on Monday.