The Ministry of Internal Affairs received the pathway for joining the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. The document was handed over to Minister Ana Revenco by European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič, who is paying a visit to Moldova, IPN reports.
“This is extraordinary news for the Republic of Moldova, for the Ministry of Internal Affairs and especially for our mates from the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations. This is a sign of confidence in their capacity, devotion and professionalism. We will follow exclusively this path. A lot of member states are already close to us. Our ambition is to cover this path in the course of this year so that next year we enter with another status the big community of teams committed to ensuring the wellbeing and protection of the people,” Ana Revenco stated in a press briefing.
According to the minister, two European Commission missions assessed the disaster risk management capacities of Moldovan rescuers. “The team is united. We realize the tasks entrusted to us and we are confident that we will manage to cover the necessary steps during a short period of time with the member states’ support. This way, we will become a member of this large family of rescuers and firefighters at European level,” noted the Moldovan official.
For his part, the European Commissioner said that the EU offered €38 million in assistance for the Ukrainian refugees and the host families in 2022 and will provide another €10 million in 2023. “As regards the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, we offered assistance to Moldova in a number of areas, such as equipment in healthcare, generators, etc. Today we have a new donation of generators for the National Clinical Hospital,” noted the official.
Janez Lenarčič said the obtaining of the EU candidate status makes Moldova eligible for participation in the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. “Following the application submitted last September, today I’m here to hand over the pathway that I hope in a matter of a few months will bring you to the European Union table of the Civil Protection Mechanism as a full-fledged participating country,” said the EU official. According to him, the Republic of Moldova already showed interest and capacity to help other states, such as Greece, Romania, Turkey etc.
After the negotiation and signing of the administrative agreement, the Republic of Moldova will officially become a member of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. This new status will bring protection services of the highest level in complex crisis situations. This way, the state will be able to bank on the support of the 27 EU member states and the nine participating states – Iceland, Norway, Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and, recently, Ukraine. Also, when an energy situation goes beyond the response capacities of a country in Europe and not only, the Moldovan rescuers and firefighters will be asked to help through the agency of the Mechanism, alongside their European counterparts.
