Joint Nordic-Baltic Statement on Hybrid Threats in the OSCE Region

OSCE Permanent Council 1573^th meeting

July 16, 2026

Mr. Chair,

Estonia fully aligns with the EU statement. In addition, I have the honour of delivering this statement on behalf of the Nordic and Baltic countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden and my own country Estonia.

We thank the UK for introducing this agenda item. For our region, hybrid threats are a daily and evolving reality.

Russia’s hybrid activities include information manipulation and interference, violations of airspace, sabotage, malicious cyber activities, disruption of critical infrastructure and the instrumentalisation of migration. These are not isolated incidents. They are deliberate, coordinated and increasingly sophisticated actions aimed at testing our resilience, undermining our security, stability, democratic institutions and public trust, as well as weakening our support for Ukraine. This will not succeed.

We will continue our steadfast political, diplomatic, military and financial support for Ukraine to achieve a just and lasting peace in full compliance with international law, including the principles of the UN Charter.

Information manipulation and interference, including disinformation, remains a central element of Russia’s hybrid campaigns. The Nordic-Baltic countries have firmly rejected Russia’s blatant disinformation campaign and false claims, supported by Belarus, following incidents involving drones entering NATO airspace in the Nordic-Baltic region. None of our countries have ever allowed our territory or airspace to be used for these attacks against targets in Russia. We reiterate that the drone incidents are a direct consequence of Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine. Russia’s attempts to accompany such incidents with fabricated narratives, threats and disinformation are unacceptable.

Mr. Chair,

As we often hear at the meetings of the OSCE Permanent Council,

Russia routinely resorts to blatant fabrications and lies about the situation in other countries, to distract attention from its own grave human rights violations. This is hardly a new tactic. Russia’s disinformation efforts have, however, intensified significantly since 2022, as it seeks to divert international attention from its war crimes against civilians in Ukraine.

At the borders with Belarus, pressure from the instrumentalisation of migration continues to increase, deliberately orchestrated by Belarus with the support of Russia. The exploitation of persons in vulnerable situations for political purposes is a particularly cynical form of hybrid activities. We strongly condemn these inhumane actions and call on Belarus and Russia to cease them immediately.

The Nordic-Baltic countries are convinced that resilience is our strongest answer. This requires whole-of-society approach, the protection of critical infrastructure and borders, cyber resilience and strong, independent media. We must strengthen our collective ability to prevent, detect, attribute, deter and respond to hybrid campaigns. Such actions must have consequences, and those responsible must be held accountable. As hybrid threats continue to pose increasingly serious challenges to our security, the OSCE should remain actively engaged in addressing this issue.

Thank you.