Gearing up for wildfires: the EU supported large simulation exercise for Eastern Partnership region

At the beginning of this year’s wildfire season, the EU continued supporting preparedness not only in EU Member States but also amongst some of Europe´s Eastern neighbours:  a regional full-scale wildfire exercise was carried out in Georgia on 14-16 June 2023.

The simulation exercise focused on preparedness and response to wildfires and included simultaneous emergencies such as car accidents, missing people and chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear threats, according to an article on the website for the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations.

The exercise brought together teams from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine, Italy and Sweden.

The exercise was co-financed by the European Commission in the framework of the regional civil protection cooperation programme “Prevention, Preparedness and Response to natural and man-made disasters in Eastern Partnership countries – phase 3” (PPRD East 3).

“Together with the Georgian Emergency Management Services, we designed the exercise to create challenging situations for the responders, so they can do assessments, make decisions, and react accordingly,” explained Kinga Perge, Exercise Director.

This programme was implemented by Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) as the lead agency and programme coordinator, the Emergency Services Academy Finland, the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic, the Centro Internazionale in Monitoraggio Ambientale (CIMA) and the Italian Red Cross (CRI).

Photo Credit: (Cover photo above) 

The regional full-scale exercise on wildfires gathered more than 350 participants from 7 countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine, Italy and Sweden).

© PPRD East 3 Programme, 2023