Norway joins Estonia in supporting Ukraine’s cyber resilience

Ensuring cybersecurity resilience has become a critical national priority for Ukraine and the Ukrainian government has taken significant steps to enhance cybersecurity. However, governmental entities still face substantial risks due to outdated infrastructure, insufficient cybersecurity frameworks and growing threats from cyberattacks. Strengthening cyber resilience is essential to safeguarding government operations, critical data, and public services.  

Recognizing these challenges, the new cooperation between  Norad, ESTDEV and Ukraine helps to ensure the cybersecurity and resilience of Ukraine’s digital infrastructure. 

“Strengthening Ukraine’s cyber resilience is essential to ensuring that core public services continue to function, even under the pressure of war. Together with Estonia and the Ukrainian authorities, Norway is helping to protect critical digital systems. This cooperation shows Norway’s commitment to strong civilian institutions and to working closely with international partners through the Tallinn Mechanism,” said Jorun Nossum, Director of the Nansen-program in Norad.  

“We’re excited to start this new cooperation with Norad, through which we help to ensure the cybersecurity and digital resilience of Ukrainians. Our shared agenda is clear: stronger cyber resilience and secure digital public services that work under real life conditions, including during war,” said Andres Ääremaa, ESTDEV’s programme manager for Cybersecurity and e-Governance.  

Norad provides a funding of €2,2 million, while ESTDEV is responsible for the implementation together with Ukrainian institutions. The cooperation will contribute to achieving the objectives of  Tallinn Mechanism by improving the cyber resilience of Ukraine's critical infrastructure.  

Estonia was one of the founders of the Tallinn Mechanism, which offers a structured platform to systematize Ukraine's civilian cybersecurity needs and align them with donor capabilities, ensuring comprehensive and coherent support. 

Given Ukraine’s urgent need for enhanced cybersecurity resilience, ESTDEV’s role is not only to facilitate technical implementation but also to ensure that the Tallinn Mechanism’s cyber capacity-building efforts are strategic, scalable, and sustainable. In the international cyber domain, Estonia is a visible and well-known actor. Through such projects, Estonian companies and organizations can share their expertise and help apply it in real-life situations. Similarly, the experience and knowledge Ukrainians are gaining from what they are currently seeing in their cyberspace are something that benefits all partners. 

As of January 2026 the Tallinn Mechanism includes 13 countries: the United Kingdom, Denmark, Estonia, Italy, Canada, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, the United States, Finland, France, Sweden, and Norway. The EU, NATO and the World Bank are official observers. Norway officially joined the Tallinn Mechanism in July 2025. 

Photo by Stas Kartashov