ABSTRACT
Albania, a small country with a population of nearly 3 million people, is an emerging parliamentary democracy. In particular, Albania’s cybersecurity policy development has been strengthened as the result of relationships with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the European Union (EU), and Albania’s neighbors, Turkey in particular. The EU’s enhanced Agency for Cybersecurity’s new mandate includes standardization of digital and ITC products and services across the EU, development of training, procedures, and doctrine for internal cyber security of member states, crisis response, and other aspects governing the EU cyber ecosystem, resulting in the establishment of a virtual EU cyber regime. As Albania–Turkey relations have improved, tighter regional cooperation in the area of cybersecurity has similarly evolved. In particular, Turkey has committed to the establishment of a High-Level Council of Cooperation, a cooperation mechanism similar to joint government meetings that Albania has with its neighbors in the region.
