NATO exercise in Tuzla: More than 1,200 people will save lives injured in natural disasters

A multiannual field-based NATO exercise for the management of the consequences of the crisis situations, entitled "Bosnia and Herzegovina 2017" officially began at Campus, University of Tuzla.

Several exercises will be held at the locations in Tuzla and its surroundings by September 29 this year, aiming at verifying the capacity of states to deal with the consequences of disasters and mutual assistance.

More than 1,200 rescuers and other members of various services from 34 countries arrived in our country, and in the coming days will work on simulation of floods and stronger earthquakes, collapse of facilities, as well as traffic accidents on land and in the water.

Minister of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina Dragan Mektić said that civilian exercise is a great opportunity for our country to show the capability of institutions of importance for protection and rescue.

As he pointed out, this is an opportunity and that the state services, through the training event, learn the specialty force, equipment and procedures for responding to the consequences of the disasters of international teams of different specialties.

"Floods in May and August 2014 affected one-fifth of the territory of BiH, causing human suffering and enormous damage. The affected communities are still recovering, and this exercise will definitely draw attention to the wider aspects of the risks involved, as well as the state of preparedness and safety in individual segments of BiH. system, "said Mektic.

Preparations for this exercise lasted for a year, and the state minister of security of BiH said that he was particularly pleased that NATO chose our country for one such event.

Otherwise, this is the 17th exercise organized by the Euro-Atlantic Center for Coordination of Disaster Response and the first of its kind organized in BiH.

NATO Assistant Secretary-General Sorin Ducar assessed that the scale of this exercise is impressive, as more than 1,200 people from 34 countries participate.

He also pointed out that exercises like these save human lives and promote international cooperation.

"I think it's important to look at this exercise from the perspective of its goal. Workout helps a lot in real emergency situations, thus saving people's lives. This exercise also fulfills the important needs of people here and in the region. Also, this exercise summarizes various elements - from training and seminars to the command post and demanding fieldwork, "explained Ducar.

He also underlined that civilian readiness is one of the elements that helps the country respond to today's challenges.

"Civil preparedness in the event of a full spectrum of threats, including natural disasters, is at the core of what we are doing, and this is also one of the goals today. This is a test for new concepts and new capabilities such as the crisis headquarters and the new technology in response to disasters, that is, telemedicine and social networks, "he stressed.

The two-day exercise will accurately demonstrate how much Bosnia and Herzegovina is ready to respond in terms of defense in case of natural disasters, which we witnessed in 2014.

"I do not think that sufficient attention is paid to the civil protection system in BiH and often the issue of civil protection is politicized. The sector or area that should serve directly to save lives, people and property should not have any political connotations, "added Minister Mektić.

Under the auspices of the first day, a first demonstration exercise was simulated that simulated the situation of the chemical weapons attack that is being increasingly talked about today.

• 26 Sep, 2017
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