NATO members form center to combat hybrid threats

April 12 (UPI) -- A center for technologies and methods to counter hybrid threats will be established in Finland this year by nine members of NATO and the European Union, the organizations announced this week.

A Memorandum of Understanding for the European Center of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats was signed Tuesday in Helsinki, Finland, by representatives of Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden, Britain and the United States.

Other NATO and EU nations are expected to join the initiative soon, NATO said in a press release.

NATO said countering hybrid threats is an alliance priority, since such threats "blur the line between war and peace -- combining military aggression with political, diplomatic, economic, cyber and disinformation measures."

Other Centers of Excellence to counter hybrid threats currently exist in Riga, Latvia, and Tallinn, Estonia.