Strategic Collaboration and Future Synergies: A Diplomatic Dialogue at CMDR COE

From 19 to 23 March 2018 the CMDR COE successfully conducted this year’s iteration of Crisis Management and Disaster Response Course.

The attendees were acquainted to NATO Crisis Management, NATO Crisis Response System, and its complementary elements - NATO Crisis Response Process, Civil Emergency Planning, and Operations Planning.

On 20 Mar 2018 the CMDR COE welcomed its new Transformation Branch Head, Col. Dariusz DOBROŃ, POL A. Col. Dobroń succeeds his fellow countryman – Col. Jaroslaw KUBISZ, who completed his term in July 2017.

Col. Dobroń graduated from the Aviation High School as a pilot in 1984. He became an officer in 1988 upon graduating from the Polish Air Defence Military Academy, Missile Engineering Faculty.

On 21 February 2018, the CMDR COE was honoured to welcome the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats Director Dr. Matti Saarelainen. Dr. Saarelainen met with CMDR COE Director and Chiefs of Branches as part of his official visit to the Republic of Bulgaria.

The CMDR COE Director Colonel Vassil Roussinov presented the Centre, focusing on its current organisation, projects, developed training and education capabilities and strategic perspectives.

The Lessons Identified Conference for the consequence management field exercise “BOSNA I HERCEGOVINA 2017” was officially launched today by Mr. Claudiu Zoicas, team leader at the Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre (EADRCC) Civil Preparedness Section, by Mr. Samir Huseinbasic,exercise director on behalf of the Ministry of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and by Col Vasileios Palaiologos, CMDR COE Deputy Director.

From 24 to 26 January 2018 a NATO Crisis Response System Course for national administration experts was successfully conducted. The course was provided in response to a request for support from the Bulgarian Ministry of Defence.

The course aim was acquisition of basic knowledge to NATO Crisis Response System Elements and their effective application at national level.

On 25 January 2018, the CMDR COE was honoured to welcome the Chairman of the EU Military Committee, General Mikhail Kostarakos.

General Kostarakos met with CMDR COE’s Director and Chiefs of Branches as part of his official visit to the Republic of Bulgaria at the invitation of the Bulgarian Chief of Defense Lieutenant General Andrey Botsev.

On 28 November 2017 the CMDR COE was honored to welcome the Secretary of State, Head of Department of Emergency Situations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Romania Dr. Raed Arafat. 

The 2017 iteration of Strategic Decision Making for Crisis Response Operations Course was held from 20 November to 24 November in Sofia, Bulgaria. 

The Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR COE) conducted its fifth Steering Committee Meeting on October 25-26, 2017.

The annual session was held in Sofia, Bulgaria with the participation of the National Representatives from the MOD of Republic of Bulgaria, as a Framework Nation, the Hellenic National Defence General Staff and the MOD of Republic of Poland, as Sponsoring Nations. In accordance with the CMDR COE Functional memorandum, HQ SACT representatives joined the annual event.

Members of the Core Planning Team for the Computer Assisted Exercise (CAX) VIKING 18, led by the Project Manager and Exercise Director MG Anders BRÄNNSTRÖM visited the Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR COE) on 19 October 2017. The delegation met with COL Vassil ROUSSINOV, CMDR COE Director, COL Milen MILKOV, Education and Training Branch Chief  and LTC Anastasios VASILEIOU - Section Head and Acting Hellenic Armed Forces Seniour National Representative. Present at the event was also a team from Operations and Training Directorate, Bulgarian MOD led by COL Dimcho JECHEV.  

A Montenegro Ministry of Defence Delegation, led by Mrs. Alma Adrovic, Head of the Public Relations Service, visited the Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR COE) on September 27, 2017. The delegation attended a meeting with COL Milen Milkov - Education and Training Branch Chief and LTC Anastasios Vasileiou - Doctrine and Standardisation Section Head.

The Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR COE) is hosting, as well as taking part in the Protection of Civilians Experiment (PoC EXP) from 18 to 22 September 2017 at Metropolitan Hotel, Sofia, Bulgaria.

The PoC Concept development is sponsored by NATO Bi-Strategic Command and is run by the Allied Command Transformation. The CMDR COE is honored to be the host of the PoC EXP and to play an active role in the conduct of the event.

The University of Architecture, Civil Engineering, and Geodesy in collaboration with NATO CMDR COE invites all interested specialists to become part of the new MSc Programme and to become qualified experts and consultants in engineering provision of protection against disasters and accidents.

CMDR COE carried out its 5^th Annual Conference Interagency Interaction in Crisis Management and Disaster Response 2017 on June 1-2 in Sofia, Bulgaria. The conference was held under the patronage of the Deputy Prime Minister for Public Order and Security and the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Bulgaria, Mr. Krasimir Karakachanov.

The CMDR Interagency Interaction conference is an annual event which brings together subject matter experts, researchers and educators, planners and developers, advisers and various actors working in the crisis management and disaster response domain in order to promote a lively debate on relevant issues.

Within the period of 16-18 May 2017, the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Bulgaria hosted Main Planning Conference aimed at the organization and arrangement of the exercise implementation phase.

The conference was opened by Deputy Minister Atanas Zapryanov. Almost all Alliance’s Nations took part in it and for the first time this year the EU has participated in the exercise format.   

CMDR COE successfully conducted the 5-day Disaster Management course from 15 to 19 May 2017 providing basic knowledge related to disasters as phenomenon, the disaster management process and its close relation to the risk management process, as well as the main players and mechanisms in disaster response.

The attendees were introduced to numerous topics related to disaster management, risk management, capability development, gender perspectives, humanitarian assistance and the role of the international actors in disaster response through lectures, practical teamwork and subsequent student presentations.

Transformation Network Branch, Headquarters, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (HQ SACT), in co-operation with the Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR COE), successfully conducted the 3^rd NATO Centres of Excellence Financial Controllers (FINCON) Conference – 2017. The event was held in the City of Varna on 15-18 May 2017.

The 2017 COEs FINCON Conference was opened by Rear Admiral Mitko Petev, the Commander of Bulgarian Navy, who warmly-welcomed the participants in the maritime capital of Bulgaria and wished them productive deliberations in successfully reaching the objectives of the Conference.

The Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR COE) is pleased to announce that the 5^th Annual Conference “Interagency Interaction in Crisis Management and Disaster Response” will be held in Sofia, Bulgaria, on 1 and 2 June 2017.

The Conference`2017 is open to all NATO Nations and Partners, governmental, non-governmental and international organizations and will include 3 panels:

- DEFENCE SUPPORT IN DISASTER RESPONSE OPERATIONS;

- IMPLICATIONS OF CLIMATE CHANGE TO MILITARY ACTIVITIES;

- BUILDING SOCIETAL RESILIENCY AND MITIGATING VULNERABILITY

From 25 to 27 April 2017 a Disaster Relief Operations Course was held at South-Eastern Europe Brigade (SEEBRIG) HQ, Larissa, Greece.

The aim of the event was acquisition of basic knowledge related to disasters as phenomenon, as well as the main players and mechanisms in disaster relief in order to facilitate the use of SEEBRIG ETF tool in such operations.

The course was successfully conducted by the CMDR COE Mobile Education and Training Team (METT) and offered to the participants the latest developments within the disaster management...

Today, 4 April 2017, the Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR COE) celebrated the second anniversary of its formal accreditation as an international military organisation – the first of its kind in the Republic of Bulgaria.

The celebration was marked by a reception and an official welcome and awarding ceremony, on which, by order of the Minister of Defence of the Republic of Bulgaria, Mr. Stefan Yanev, eight CMDR COE military and civilian staff members were presented with awarding sings and prizes for outstanding performance. The event took place at the Lozenets Residence, and gathered high ranking officials and representatives from governmental and non-governmental organisations from the crisis management and disaster response community.

The Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence hosted a Demo-Experiment MSG-147, as part of the M&S Support for Crisis and Disaster Management Processes and Climate Change Implications project. The event took place in Sofia, Bulgaria in the period 20 March – 24 March, 2017. More than 20 representatives of governmental institutions, JFTC, other COEs, academia and the industry took part in the Demo-Experiment MSG-147.

The aim of the MSG-147 project is to develop a technical platform capable of supporting and conducting crisis management and disaster response exercises, analysis and preparatory training, that enables prompt, reasonable and effective tests of Crisis/Disaster and Climate Change Implication (CCI) Response plans.

The Crisis Management and Disaster Response Course was held from 20 to 24 March 2017 at the CMDR COE.

The aim of the course was to provide the attendees with basic knowledge to NATO Crisis Management, NATO Crisis Response System and its complementary elements - NATO Crisis Management Process, Civil Emergency Planning and Operations Planning, as well as Disaster Response main actors. The assigned learning objectives were fully covered which contributed to achieving the course aim.

The Bulgarian Red Cross (BRC) President, Hristo Grigorov, and the Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR COE) Director, Colonel Vassil Roussinov, signed a framework cooperation agreement aiming to promote, facilitate and strengthen cooperation in the area of education, training, research and development. In the context of this agreement will be launched a number of research projects, education and training programs, joint training activities, participation in workshops, conferences, training and internship programs, exchanges of researchers, teachers and other experts.

The Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR COE) organized and conducted the NATO Crisis Management Exercise 2017 (CMX17) Final Planning Conference (FPC) from 06 to 10 February 2017 at Boyana Residence, Sofia, Bulgaria.

The exercise is sponsored by NATO Secretary General and is jointly run by the International Staff, the International Military Staff and the two NATO Strategic Commands – Allied Command Operations and Allied Command Transformation.

The Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR COE) together with the Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre (EADRCC) conducts the “CRNA GORA – 2016” Lessons Identified Conference from 25 to 27 January 2017 at Arena di Serdica Hotel, Sofia, Bulgaria.

The EADRCC held a consequence management command-post and field exercise “CRNA GORA 2016” on 31 October – 3 November 2016. The exercise was jointly organized by the EADRCC and the Directorate for Emergency Management of the Ministry of Interior of Montenegro.

In concern of the UN Office for Risk Reduction (UNISDR) efforts to promote the latest disaster risk reduction framework adopted in 2015, a UNISDR Training of Trainers Workshop was carried out from 17 to 19 January 2017 in Sofia.

The event has been supported by the Directorate General Fire Safety and Civil Protection – Bulgaria and Disaster Preparedness and Prevention Initiative for South Eastern Europe (DPPI SEE) and accommodated by CMDR COE. 

The five-day iteration of Strategic Decision Making for Crisis Response Operations Course was successfully conducted from 28 November to 2 December 2016 in Sofia, Bulgaria.

The Ambassador of the Hellenic Republic to the Republic of Bulgaria H.E. Grigorios Vassiloconstandakis visited the Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR COE) on 1 December 2016. He met with CMDR COE Director Colonel Vassil Roussinov, Deputy Director Colonel Panagiotis Aposporis and Branch Chiefs. 

The Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR COE) hosted a top-level visit of the Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (DSACT) Admiral Manfred Nielson on November 14, 2016. Admiral Nielson attended a meeting with CMDR COE Director Colonel Vassil Roussinov, Deputy Director Colonel Panagiotis Aposporis and Branch Chiefs.

On November 10^th, 2016, the Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence and the National Defence Academy ‘G. S. Rakovski’ signed a cooperation agreement.

Major general Todor Dotchev, Commandant of the National Defence Academy ‘G. S. Rakovski’ opened the ceremony with a short welcome address. He indicated that the National Defence Academy ‘G. S. Rakovski’ had always been actively supporting the establishment of the CMDR COE and the process of its continuous development.