In November 2023, the inaugural EU:CD Fellowship cohort travelled to Brussels to exchange with EU representatives and member states on a range of cyber diplomacy challenges. As the final activity in the programme, the fellows had an opportunity to build on their expertise and reflect on their experiences from New York and Vienna.
The visit included dedicated exchanges with EU institions and agencies including The European Commission's Directorate General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CNECT) and Directorate General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA) as well as the European Defense Agency and the European Security and Defense College. The fellows also participated in a meeting between the EU's Cyber and Digital Diplomacy Networks, in a lunch-meeting co-hosted by the Spanish Presidency of the council of the EU and the EU External Action Service, and attended by cyber and digital ambassadors from EU member states.
Under the banner of the European Cyber Agora, the fellows later participated in an exercise and scenario based discussion with members of the European multistakeholder community. Titled 'Nation Under Attack', the exercise aimed to enhance understanding of crisis response and put cyber diplomacy into practice. Lastly, following a guided tour of the European Parliament, the program included a roundtable on Foreign Information Manipulation & Interference with the EU-funded Countering Foreign Interfernce (CFI) project.
The call for applications for the second iteration of the EU:CD Fellowship closes on 4 December, you can find the application here.
