Letter of Intent Has Been Signed by the Authorities of the Fire and Rescue Services of Lithuania, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine
On the 29th of May 2024, a Letter of Intent seeking to foster international cooperation in the fields of fire safety, emergency management and civil protection has been signed by Mr Saulius Greičius, Director of the Fire and Rescue Department under the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter referred to as “the Fire and Rescue Department”), Mr Zurab Pavliashvili, Deputy Director of the Emergency Management Service under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia and Mr Alexandru Oprea, Head of the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Moldova. Mr Andrii Danyk, Acting Deputy Head of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, will sign the Letter of Intent remotely.
“New geopolitical challenges pose threats not only to Lithuania, but also to the whole region. We hope that expert insights will help to strengthen the security of the countries and the people of the region. All three countries have taken significant steps and have been admitted to the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism as of the 1stJanuary 2024. This has provided even greater opportunities for mutual assistance and emergency response. We welcome our joint Project and look forward to even closer cooperation in the future. We will all work together for a safe future,” said Mr Saulius Greičius at the meeting.
The Letter of Intent aims to facilitate joint training and exchange of experience, focusing on the development and implementation of joint projects funded by the European Union. The Parties will seek to cooperate in the exchange of information and experience in the fields of disaster management, emergency prevention and response, joint training, seminars and exercises, implementation of joint projects funded by the European Union to strengthen emergency prevention and response capacities, etc.
Since the 1st of March 2023, the Fire and Rescue Department, together with the fire and rescue services of Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine, has been successfully implementing the development cooperation Project “Cooperation in the field of fire and rescue services for better preparation of candidate countries. Safety First!“, Project No. 2022-K-051.
The aim of this Project is to promote cooperation between the fire and rescue authorities of Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine, to assess the state of the countries’ fire and rescue and civil protection systems, to identify administrative problems and to provide methodological assistance in order to improve the administrative capacity of the fire and rescue and civil protection services, to help the institutions of the partner countries to better prepare for integration into the European Union.
The Project involved expert visits to partner countries. Representatives of the Fire and Rescue Department visited Moldova and Georgia. A visit to Ukraine is planned aiming to assess the situation of local fire services and to provide assessments and recommendations. Representatives of the partner countries have been upgrading their skills in Lithuania, taking part in trainings and workshops, visiting various sites, learning about prevention measures and response capacities.
A delegation from Ukraine visited Lithuania in July 2023 and representatives from Moldova and Georgia in November 2023. Lithuanian representatives also visited Georgia and Moldova.
The Fire and Rescue Department aims to ensure continuous communication between the partners and to continue successful cooperation in the future in order to effectively address rescue and civil protection challenges.