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.