President Alar Karis to attend round table on cybersecurity at Paris Peace Forum

On the invitation of his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, President Alar Karis is currently attending the Paris Peace Forum, which is being held for the fifth time. He will be speaking as part of a roundtable on the impact of the geopolitical situation on cybersecurity and taking part in a high-level event being held in parallel with the forum which will focus on protecting children against threats in cyberspace.

Others contributing to the roundtable will include Microsoft president Brad Smith, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France Catherine Colonna, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands Wopke Hoekstra and Interpol secretary general Jürgen Stock.

The theme of this year’s forum is ‘Riding out the Multicrisis’. Discussions will focus on how cooperation between countries can be enhanced at a time of conflict and how the socioeconomic consequences of crises can be alleviated. Climate and environment solutions, ensuring a safer and more ethical digital world and promoting a fairer and more inclusive society will also be debated.

Addressing the audience at the forum in addition to President Macron will be a wide range of speakers. They include heads of international organisations such as UNESCO (Director General Audrey Azoulay) and the UN World Food Programme (Executive Director David Beasley). Also taking part in the discussions will be civil society activists and the directors of international corporations.

Today President Karis will be taking part in a high-level event being run in parallel with the forum and led by President Macron, focussing on the protection of children online. Working with major online platforms, it will seek to find ways of protecting the young in cyberspace and against online threats. Taking place in the Élysée Palace, the discussion will also involve heads of state and government from countries including Jordan, Argentina and New Zealand. Other attendees will be special representatives of UNICEF, the UN, civil society organisations (Save the Children, WeProtect, E-enfance, RespectZone and Point de Contact) and online media giants (Amazon, Dailymotion, Google, Instagram, Meta, Microsoft, Snapchat, Twitter, Qwant and TikTok).

While in Paris, President Karis will also be holding a bilateral meeting with the head of state of North Macedonia.

President Karis will be returning to Estonia on Saturday.

More information about the Paris Peace Forum can be found online at https://parispeaceforum.org/.