, April 22 -- Climate disasters create security gaps now exploited by hybrid threats in Fiji and the Pacific.

Minister for Defence and Veteran Affairs Pio Tikoduadua made the remarks at the Hybrid Threats and Natural Hazards regional workshop at Black Rock Camp in Nadi Tuesday.

He said security threats were shifting alongside changes in the geographic landscape and the increasing frequency of natural disasters.

"Hostile actors are exploiting vulnerabilities created by climate stress and disaster response operations. They emerge concurrently with our natural disaster cycle," he said.

"In Pacific Island countries, natural disasters are not an abstract risk. They are our reality. Cyclones, floods and rising seas shape our economies, infr...