Representatives of countries taking part in the Lithuanian-initiated project for developing the EU Cyber Rapid Response Teams (CRRTs) met in Vilnius on Thursday.
The two-day meeting was "convened to mutually agree a Memorandum of Understanding and to discuss technical and operational aspects of the project, potential compositions of the teams, [and a] capability development plan," the Lithuanian Defence Ministry said in a press release.
"The MoU is one of the cornerstone documents of the project which sets the principles the cooperation among the project participants will be based on while creating the agreed cyber security capabilities," it said.
Currently, the project involves eight EU member states as participants and another six countries as observers.
The Lithuanian-led force, consisting of six to eight cyber security specialists in each team, can respond to incidents within 72 hours after receiving requests from states, EU bodies, or military operations and missions, according to the ministry.
The project is part of the so-called Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO).
Initiated last year, PESCO allows closer defense cooperation of groups of EU member states. Critics, however, say it may overlap NATO activities.
