Heads of civil protection agencies in the Baltic Sea region commit to further cooperation
The Directors General of the civil protection agencies of the member states of Council of the Baltic Sea States agreed to further strengthen cooperation in the Baltic Sea Region.
This week, the heads of the civil protection agencies of the member states of Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) agreed to further strengthen cooperation on prevention and preparedness against emergencies in the Baltic Sea Region.
During their high-level meeting that took place in Oslo, Norway on 31 May – 1 June 2022, the Directors General for Civil Protection of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, and Sweden signed a key document that will strengthen regional cooperation on civil protection – the Oslo Declaration on Regional Cooperation in the Civil Protection Network.
In Oslo, the added value of the CBSS in promoting and enabling cooperation in the field of civil protection was reaffirmed, echoing the Kristiansand Declaration that was adopted earlier in May during the CBSS Ministerial Session 2022 and which stated that “strong cooperation […] in the field of civil protection has become ever more important in the present situation.”
“The Civil Protection Network is one of the most active and valuable networks of the CBSS,” said Grzegorz Poznanski, the Director General of the CBSS Secretariat, adding that one of the factors of its success is the close cooperation between the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR) and CBSS on civil protection matters.
Together with Sweden, CBSS currently coordinates the Policy Area Secure (PA Secure) of the EUSBSR that focuses on protection from land-based emergencies, accidents and cross-border crime.
The event, which was hosted by the Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection (DSB), the current chair of the of the CBSS Civil Protection Network, was also an opportunity for a number of round table discussions and presentations, notably on the challenges faced by Poland due to the Russian war in Ukraine, as presented by the State Fire Service of Poland.
The Road Map 2021-2030 for a disaster-resilient European and Central Asian region 2030, risk governance in a rapidly changing and challenging environment, as well as for updates on CBSS processes related to civil protection, including the achievements of the CBSS Civil Protection Network under Norwegian presidency of the CBSS, were also discussed.
