Opening ceremony of the CMDR COE as an International Organization

"We have to learn to counter effectively to the new hybrid type of crisis and disasters, destabilizations and confrontations. And this Centre is a way ahead", stated the Bulgarian president Mr. Rosen Plevneliev in his address to the Opening ceremony of the Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR COE) as an International Organization. The ceremony was with the presence of ambassadors and military attaches of diplomatic missions accredited to the Republic of Bulgaria, commanders of the armed forces, and representatives of other ministries and departments.

The event was attended by the Bulgarian Minister of Defence Dr. Velizar Shalamanov as well. In his turn, he pointed that such centre will be a serious step for improving cooperation in between NATO States and the EU. "The crisis management and emergency response are the primary responsibility of all as the militaries have an obligation to support and sustain the efforts of the civil authorities. Therefore the Bulgarian MOD fully supports the development of the CMCRD COE " said Dr. Shalamanov.

The Centre is not intended as operational to react in occurrence of crises and disasters. Its purpose is to create clusters in the field and to provide specialized expertise in support for capability development; improving interoperability and enhancing the education and training of commanders, leaders and units from NATO States and Partner Nations; testing of the applicability of doctrines; development and validation of concepts through conducting experiments; presenting lessons learned and evaluations in the crisis management and disaster response domain.

CMDR COE is an international organization created by Legal Act for ratification of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Bulgaria, the Ministry of Defence of the Hellenic Republic and the Minister of National Defence of the Republic of Poland, regarding the establishment, administration and functioning of the Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence, signed on 28 August 2013 in Norfolk, United States of America. (State Gazette ed. 30/01.04.2014).

In November 2014 a HQ SACT Accreditation Team from the NATO Allied Command Transformation will visit the CMDR COE aiming to inspect the Centre's overall readiness to meet accreditation criteria. The CMDR COE will gain international status as NATO military body after "silence procedure" from the North Atlantic Council in accordance with article XIV of the Paris Protocol on the Status of International Military Headquarters. With this the Centre will represent internationally acknowledged and respected organization, which will have significant contribution in researching, establishing and developing of capabilities of NATO States and Partner Nations in the crisis management and disaster response domain.

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The initial planning conference for the SEESIM 14 exercise was held in Zagreb, Croatia

The initial planning conference for the distributed computer assisted exercise South Eastern Europe Simulation Network (SEESIM 14) was held in Zagreb, Croatia. The Republic of Bulgaria is co-organizer and participates actively in the conducting of the exercise together with the Host Nation. Among the participants are also representatives of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Montenegro, Romania, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, United States of America and the SEEBRIG.

The exercise is held under the auspices of the Ministers of Defence of the SEE Nations.

 

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CMDR COE FEBRUARY Forthcoming events

• In 3-7 of February experts from the CMDR COE team will take part in the Final Planning Conference of the SABER GUARDIAN ′14 Exercise, organized by the US EUCOM and BGR LANDFORCE.

The purpose of the exercise is to train and educate civilian and military participants in planning and conducting an UN mandated Chapter VII Peace Operation/Crisis Response Operation, based on a Comprehensive Approach, and focusing on co-operation and co-ordination within an unstable environment, involving all stakeholders. The principal exercise focus is the civilian-military cooperation and coordination. The scenario supports exercising a wide range of peace operations functions (e.g. rule of law, humanitarian, etc.). The CMDR COE will contribute to achieving the exercise objectives by providing subject matter expert support in the CMDR area and by organizing distributed point for White cell.

• In 11-13 February 2014 the Civil-Military Interaction: Disaster Preparedness and Response Workshop will take place in Sofia. The workshop is sponsored by the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Bulgaria and the CMDR COE. The workshop comprises lectures dedicated to NATO and EU Crisis Management, role of military in civil security, risk management, as well as discussions and tabletop exercise.

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Internal CMDR COE Seminar on the Crisis in Syria

The CMDR COE organised an internal seminar which was held on 20.12.2013. The main focus of the seminar was the crisis in Syria. The CMDR COE experts discussed issued related to the chronology of the crisis; the increased influx of refugees to neighbouring countries and Bulgaria; the positions of NATO, the UN and EU; the involvement of international humanitarian organisations etc.

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Visualizing Implications of Climate Change on Military Activities and Relationships was conducted

On 11-12 December 2013, the Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR COE) co-hosted together with US European Command (USEUCOM) and the US embassy in Bulgaria the workshop Visualizing Implications of Climate Change on Military Activities and Relationships. The opening remarks were given by the Deputy Minister of Defence of Bulgaria, Mr. Ivan Ivanov, who welcomed the participants and underlined the importance of the topics that the workshop focused on.

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