Petr Pavel, Photo: KPR/Tomáš Fongus / ČTK
Czech President Petr Pavel has said that China and Russia are equivalent threats to Europe in the field of cybersecurity. The Czech leader said this in an interview with the Financial Times.
“The two countries are on the same level when it comes to state hacking and espionage. Beijing and Moscow are equal in terms of cyber threat. We’ve seen cyberattacks from both sides and they’re almost on the same level,” Pavel said.
Last month, the Czech Republic officially announced that its Ministry of Foreign Affairs had fallen victim to a “malicious cyber campaign” behind the Chinese hacker group APT31, which is affiliated with the Chinese Ministry of State Security.
The group has previously been sanctioned by the US and UK for similar attacks. Beijing, in turn, denies these accusations.
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky called the attack a “clear act of espionage” made possible by the use of outdated network infrastructure at the Foreign Ministry.
The Financial Times reminds us that the Czech Republic is one of the most active European defenders of Taiwan. On his first day in office in 2023, President Pavel had a telephone conversation with the then President of Taiwan Tsai Ing-wen in support of the island, making him the first European head of state to take such a step.
