Civilian CSDP Missions Hybrid Threats

03 June 2026

Cultural Heritage Preparedness and EU Civilian Crisis Management Missions

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This handout was prepared by the CoE for the Hanaholmen Heritage Conference in Espoo, Finland on 28 May, 2026. It defines the ways EU Civilian CSDP supports cultural heritage protection through institutional capacity building in host countries, including brief summaries of the activities of several missions in this field.

EU’s civilian crisis management missions are not cultural heritage agencies. Their added value lies in supporting national and local authorities when cultural heritage becomes part of the wider security, rule-of-law, preparedness, resilience, and conflict picture.

The European External Action Service (EEAS) 2025 progress report shows that several civilian Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) missions are already engaged in this field. Their activities include legal reform, monitoring, capacity-building, addressing heritage crimes, supporting local authorities, and integrating cultural heritage protection into conflict prevention and security efforts. All of this is mandate-based and in support of local authorities.

From a preparedness perspective, their role is also to help connect the dots: linking national authorities, local actors, EU Delegations, Commission-funded programmes, Member State expertise, and international partners, so that cultural heritage protection becomes part of wider institutional and societal resilience rather than an isolated cultural concern. This includes both tangible heritage — such as sites, buildings, monuments and collections — and intangible heritage, including memory, traditions, knowledge, practices and forms of cultural expression. Civilian CSDP missions can support the protection of intangible cultural heritage by helping partner-country institutions strengthen resilience against hybrid, cyber, and FIMI threats that target memory, identity, cultural expression, and social cohesion.

Reference: Suonio, A. (2026). Cultural Heritage Preparedness and EU Civilian Crisis Management Missions. European Centre of Excellence for Civilian Crisis Management.

Resource

PDF | 6 pages
Read the full handout

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