12.04.2018
Bulgaria plays a key role in the civil protection mechanism in Europe and is always at the forefront of assistance, whether it be forest fires or floods. This was stated by the EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianidis after a meeting with Prime Minister Boyko Borissov at the Council of Ministers. The Minister of Interior Valentin Radev and the Minister of Environment and Water Neno Dimov also attended the meeting.
During the conversation, Prime Minister Borissov noted that natural disasters in recent years have shown the need for a change in the existing emergency response system. The common opinion was stated that in order to provide better protection for European citizens, a pan-European mechanism for rapid and effective response to disasters through rescue operations is needed. The Commission's proposal for a rescEU initiative constitutes such a mechanism, through which Member States will have at their avail additional capacity to deal with emergencies. The implementation of the mechanism will contribute to the overall strengthening and improvement of the European safety net, said Commissioner Stylianides.
Minister Radev pointed out that our country supports the initiative and, as a rotating Presidency of the EU Council, will work to reach agreement among the member states so that it can be brought for consideration at the EU summit in June. “The idea is to make European citizens feel safer in their everyday lives,” said Valentin Radev.
Commissioner Stylianides thanked Prime Minister Borissov for the support Bulgaria will give to the new crisis response system, as well as for the good cooperation during the first months of the Bulgarian Presidency.
