Interview in Greek, of our Head of Operations Dr Petros Petrikkos, with Sigma tv Cyprus about Hybrid Threats, modern security issues and Cyprus.

On 18th June 2026, our Head of Operations, Dr Petros Petrikkos took part as a speaker on hybrid threats during the proceedings of the European Union INTCEN Hybrid Fusion Cell (HFC) Points of Contact & Informal Horizontal Working Party on Enhancing Resilience and Countering Hybrid Threats (HWP ERCHT) under the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU 2026. The main discussion concerned the ways through which such threats are present across Cypriot society and institutions.

Transparency deficits create structural vulnerabilities enabling corruption to operate as a force multiplier for national security threats. In this context, information asymmetries, weak oversight mechanisms, and inadequate accountability frameworks establish permissive environments where corrupt actors exploiting institutional blind spots.

The increasing number and complexity of hybrid threat activities forces small states, especially those with limited access to material resources, to reassess their foreign and defence policies. While the variable of ‘smallness’ may be sufficient to justify their overall engagement in dealing with conventional security threats, in the hybrid arena this is not the case.

This essay focuses on the identification and evaluation of hybrid threats in the Republic of Cyprus which is one of many small states in the international system. Building on theoretical analysis and empirical evidence obtained from the study of the case, the authors examine the threats deriving from the overarching security problem – that is, the Turkish occupation and de facto military division of the island.