Kristalina Georgieva, the European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, pays her first visit to Moldova on Sunday and Monday to further deepen EU-Moldova cooperation in the area of civil protection.
"Disasters are growing in number and severity, due to climate change, urbanisation, industrial and demographic growth. We are all at risk – in Europe, the greatest threats we face are forest fires, droughts, floods. No country can cope with the growing risks by itself and cooperation is the most efficient and cost-effective way to protect our citizens and avoid large-scale damage. As closely cooperating neighbours, the European Union and Moldova have already made the first steps in cooperation in disaster prevention and response – and I look forward to discussing with Prime Minister Filat and the Minister of Interior Recean how we can go further on this important path," Kristalina Georgieva said.
In May this year, the European Commission and the Emergency Situations Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Moldova signed a civil protection cooperation Administrative Arrangement. In the next two years, the Arrangement envisages participation in joint trainings and workshops in civil protection and sharing of experience in disaster response.
During her visit Commissioner Georgieva will meet Prime Minister Vladimir Filat and Minister of Interior Dorin Recean to discuss future cooperation as well as challenges arising from the recent droughts in Moldova.
Kristalina Georgieva will open the annual meeting of the Conference of the Regional and Local Authorities for the Eastern Partnership (CORLEAP).
The European Union's Member States cooperate with other European countries in disaster prevention and response through the European Civil Protection Mechanism. It facilitates cooperation in disaster response among 32 European states (EU-27 plus Croatia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia).
The participating countries pool the resources that can be made available to disaster-stricken countries all over the world. When activated, the Mechanism coordinates the provision of assistance inside and outside the European Union. The European Commission manages the Mechanism through the Monitoring and Information Centre.
Moldova has so far activated the EU Civil Protection Mechanism on three occasions – during the floods in 2008 and 2010, when the participating states in the Mechanism helped with water pumps, boats, sandbags and water purification kits, and during the gas shortage in 2009, when Moldova was provided with electrical heaters, power generators and boilers. On these occasions, there was excellent cooperation between the Moldovan Civil Protection Authorities and the Monitoring and Information Centre at the European Commission.
Recently, the EU Civil Protection Mechanism has been activated to help Portugal, Albania, Montenegro and Greece cope with forest fires and to help the refugees from Syria in neighbouring countries.
Since 2001, the Civil Protection Mechanism has reacted to more than a hundred disasters worldwide, including Hurricane Katrina in the USA (2005), earthquakes in China (2008) and Italy (2009), earthquake in Haiti (2010) and earthquake/tsunami in Japan (2011).
