Cybercrime

Over 40 project stakeholders, including the representative of the European Commission, DG NEAR and the Cybercrime  Programme Office of the Council of Europe (C-PROC), attended the first Steering Committee Meeting of the CyberEast+ project, which was held in a hybrid format.

CyberEast+,  a joint initiative of the European Union and of the Council of Europe, was officially launched on 1 March 2024 with a budget of 3.9 million EUR.  The project serves as direct continuation of the previous joint European Union and Council of Europe capacity building programmes implemented by the Cybercrime Programme Office of the Council of Europe. The scope of the project is to ensure a more effective criminal justice response to cybercrime and electronic evidence in the Eastern Partnership region. It also aims to increase the cyber-resilience in the region through a combination of regional actions and activities addressing the specific needs of the five focus countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.

The Steering Committee members analysed the current state of play on cybercrime and electronic evidence in the Eastern Partnership region, as well as the project’s impact and outcomes for 2024.  It was agreed that international cooperation on cybercrime and electronic evidence, in line with the provisions of the Convention on Cybercrime (Budapest Convention) and of its Second Additional Protocol, will remain a major priority for 2025. In addition, the increased involvement of the project countries in the development of training materials and delivery of activities was underlined, especially in relation to strengthening the cooperation with the Police and Judicial Training Institutions in the region.

On this occasion, the CyberEast+ project reaffirmed its commitment to reinforce Ukraine’s capacities to secure electronic evidence for use in criminal proceedings, not only in relation to cybercrime or cyberattacks, but also in relation to any offence, including potential war crimes brought about by the Russian aggression.

CyberEast+ Project Webpage

Cybercrime  Programme Office of the Council of Europe

Convention on Cybercrime (Budapest Convention)

Second Additional Protocol