On 10-11 September, ICDS Research Fellows Dmitri Teperik and Tomas Jermalavičius participated, as panellists, in the workshop “Hybrid Threats: Overcoming Ambiguity, Building Resilience” held in Vilnius, Lithuania, by the Institute of International Relations and Political Science of Vilnius University, in cooperation with the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and NATO Energy Security Centre of Excellence.
Dmitri Teperik spoke in the session on social resilience, which was moderated by his colleague Tomas Jermalavičius and also included Fredrik Konnander of the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) and Kristijonas Vizbaras of the Lithuanian Riflemen Union. He underlined the importance of reaching out to and engaging — through effective research evidence-based programmes such as Sinu Riigi Kaitse in Estonia — Russian-speaking ethnic minorities, in order to raise their awareness about hybrid threats as well as about national security and defence measures aimed at countering them. Dmitri placed high emphasis on working with the young generation which, one the one hand, is easier to allienate and radicalise by means of hostile Russia‘s information campaigns but which, on the other hand, aspires to better inclusion and full-fledged participation in building succcessful future of Estonia. The panel concluded that voluntary civic effort facilitated by government and designed to reduce society‘s political, economic, social, informational and military vulnerabilities is critical ingredient in achieving resilience and protecting against hybrid threats.