More than 30 members of the Cross-border Protection and Rescue team and other members of the emergency services passed 5 two-day trainings in the period from June to November 2023. Trainings were organized within the project “Increasing Capacities to Prevent, Prepare and Respond to Disasters – Resilient Border”, financed by the European Union.
The final training module was held in Grude in the period from 26 till 29 November 2023 at the polygon for emergency services, which was built and equipped through this project. The trainings also served to familiarize the team members with the proper handling of equipment and tools that were acquired through the Resilient Border project, which includes a total of 94 sets of personal equipment and tools, and two vehicles.
Bojan Subotić, Herceg Novi (MNE), member of the cross-border team: „Such trainings and joint exercises mean a lot to us, and through them we have established cross-border cooperation with the aim of joint response in the event of disasters.“
Željko Madžar, from Ljubuški (BiH), who is also a member of the cross-border team, said that the trainings were very useful and that they upgraded existing knowledge, and that he hopes for further cooperation.
The purpose of the conducted training modules was to strengthen the capacity of emergency services for protection and rescue, mutual connection and development of partnership among members of the cross-border team, as well as the exchange of experiences. The aforementioned training modules were conducted through theoretical and practical units with different topics such as rescue from ruins, rescue from heights and from depths, the use of drones in emergency situations and thermography, the use of hydraulic tools and the specifics of extinguishing personal vehicles.
„Thanks to the European Union, which finances this project, we have established a partnership with the Municipality of Herceg Novi, which manifests itself through the establishment of a joint cross-border team for action in the event of major disasters, the training of which we have just completed, but also through the cooperation of the local communities themselves, which has already resulted in the registration of new projects in the field of disaster risk management,“ said Radoslav Luburić, project manager.
Project “Increasing Capacities to Prevent, Prepare and Respond to Disasters – Resilient Border”, financed by the European Union within the cross-border programme Bosnia and Herzegovina – Montenegro (IPA II). The total value of the project is over 586.000 EUR, out of which the European Union provided over 500.000 EUR of grant funds. The remaining amount is co-financed by the project partners, Development Agency of the West Herzegovina Canton – HERAG (BiH), Civil Protection Administration of West-Herzegovina Canton (BiH) and Herceg Novi municipality (Montenegro). Implementation has started in March 2022 and will last 24 months.