Visit of the Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff - Admiral Evangelos Apostolakis
Date: (01-06-2016)
The Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff Admiral Evangelos Apostolakis visited the Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR COE) on 1 June. He met with Director Colonel Vassil Roussinov, the Chief of Staff of the Bulgarian JFC Commodore Dimitar Yordanov, and CMDR COE Branch Chiefs.
The meeting was part of Admiral Apostolakis’ official three-day visit to the Republic of Bulgaria on the invitation of the Bulgarian Chief of Defence General Konstantin Popov.
During the meeting, Colonel Roussinov presented the concept, vision and mission, as well as the main milestones in the process of firmly establishing the CMDR COE as a focal point in the crisis management and disaster response (CMDR) domain. The Director also briefed Admiral Apostolakis on the progress of the Centre’s Programme of Work (POW 2016) and informed about the different CMDR initiatives in which the Centre takes active part. Furthermore, Colonel Roussinov expressed his appreciation for the contribution and support provided by the Hellenic Republic as one of the Centre’s Sponsoring Nations.
Admiral Apostolakis expressed his content with the CMDR COE’s achievements and reaffirmed the commitment of the Hellenic General Staff to the work of the Centre and to further strengthening cooperation. He highlighted that the Centre has an important role in NATO’s main Crisis Management Exercise (CMX) and that the benefits of this exercise are essential with respect to enhancing the Alliance’s CMDR capabilities.
Finally, he confirmed his personal engagement in the promotion of the CMDR COE’s activities internationally by encouraging NATO Nations and Partners to join and reinforce the CMDR COE as Sponsoring/Contributing Nations.
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