In view of the earthquake in the Turkish-Syrian border area, the EU has activated its civil protection mechanism. “European support is already on the way,” wrote EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday on Twitter. The Europeans are ready “to help in any way possible”.
European civil protection pools the capacities of the 27 EU countries and eight other countries: Turkey, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway and Iceland. Every country in the world, but also the United Nations and other organizations can ask for support in emergencies.
Since it was founded in 2001, the civil protection procedure has been activated more than 600 times for emergency aid inside and outside the European Union. According to EU information, the largest operation to date is currently underway in Ukraine and in neighboring countries such as Poland, Slovakia and Moldova, to which millions of Ukrainians have fled.
According to the European Union, the EU countries as well as Norway, Turkey and North Macedonia delivered “millions of urgently needed items such as first aid kits, equipment for emergency shelters, fire extinguishers, water pumps, power generators and fuel” to the country attacked by Russia.
Previously, the Europeans had provided help during the corona pandemic, after tropical cyclones in Latin America and Asia or after the explosion in the port of Beirut in Lebanon. Within the EU, the instrument is regularly used in the event of forest fires or floods. In 2021 alone, the mechanism was activated 114 times.
EU has created its own strategic reserve
The EU Commission in Brussels coordinates the operations and, according to its own statements, assumes at least 75 percent of the transport or operational costs. Their role was increased in the course of the corona pandemic. In certain areas, such as medical teams, Brussels now has its own capacities.
In addition, the EU has created its own strategic reserve. It includes, among other things, fire-fighting aircraft, generators, water pumps and fuel as well as medical equipment, medicines and protective masks.
The European satellite system Copernicus can also be used, as is the case with the earthquake in the Turkish-Syrian border area. It provides important maps of the affected areas for the rescue workers.
In the course of the Russian war of aggression, civil protection is also to be strengthened in areas that have previously received less attention, including chemical, biological and nuclear incidents. The EU Commissioner responsible for crisis protection, Janez Lenarcic, said in autumn that the EU had delivered five million iodine tablets to residents living near contested nuclear power plants in Ukraine. (AFP)
To home page
