This project will increase the knowledge and the interoperability of the “EU Host Nation Support Guidelines” among all participating states and express the solidarity of the European Union Civil Protection.

VIENNA, AUSTRIA, February 15, 2023 /24-7PressRelease/ — The EU Host Nation Support project started in April 2022 and ends at the latest after 18 months in August 2023. The first tabletop exercise was successfully conducted already in Amman, in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, in November 2022. The second one is going to be held from 22.-24. February in the Republic of Moldova. It is going on again for two and a half days, where different training opportunities will be exercised by different actors.

The exercise with over 80 participants will be hosted by the implementing partner, the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations (IGSU), Ministry of Internal Affairs of Moldova. This exercise is extraordinary since virtual reality scenarios and situations are going to be used in which disaster situations such as damaged villages or affected industrial sites are to be managed. “Visualisation of complex situations for tabletop training is of great importance to get the “feeling” of a real mission. Thanks to our partner from the Virtual Reality simulation team, we can give the participants these impressions”, Project Director, Dr. Bogdan Pop referred to the virtual reality simulation.

According to the scenario, there will be a disaster of extraordinary size with cascading effects, like the loss of energy supply in several Raioane (districts) of the Central region. Therefore, IGSU (General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations, of the Republic of Moldova) activates the EU Civil Protection Mechanism to improve cooperation and coordination procedures in exceptional situations between institutions, emergency services and European assistance.

The planned exercise has the objective of identifying areas of improvement at the national, international and bilateral, as well as an operational level of procedures, but also of support coordination aspects of the host nation to facilitate the receiving and integration of assistance from the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM). Experts from Austria, Romania, Poland and the Republic of Moldova will conduct the exercise. 13 European experts in the field of civil protection from Austria, Bulgaria, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Norway, Finland, and Sweden are involved in the exercise. Observers are expected from the Public Security Directorate, Civil Defence Directorate, The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the Palestinian Civil Defence.

The UCPM aims at assisting and supporting the affected participating states to receive international assistance most effectively and efficiently, whether in the preparedness or disaster response phases. For the EU HNS TTX in Moldova, the UCPT, role-played and virtual modules, other response capacities, TAST and experts from as many different participating states will participate.

Currently, you can see the performance of the UCPM in the response to the devasting earthquake in Turkey. Immediately after the request, 20 EU Member States, as well as Albania, Montenegro and Serbia offered assistance. This includes 31 search and rescue teams and 5 medical teams via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. The teams consist of a total of over 1,650 rescuers and 100 search and rescue dogs. In addition, blankets, tents, power generators and heaters have been offered.

The consortium conducting the exercise, funded by European Union, are the Department for Emergency Situations (Romania), PubliComm GmbH, media and consultancy (Austria), iHELP Institute (Poland) and the University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Sciences and Technology of Târgu Mureș.

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