Memorandum of cooperation between Greece and Israel in the field of Civil Protection

The first memorandum of cooperation between Greece and Israel in the field of Civil Protection was signed by the Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Christos Stylianidis, with the Deputy Minister of Defense of Israel, Alon Schuster, during Mr. Stylianidis’ visit to Israel. The meeting was also attended by the head of the National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA), Yoram Laredo.

During his visit to Israel, Mr. Stylianidis made a series of contacts to strengthen the synergies between the two countries in the field of Civil Protection, but also to promote a positive agenda of cooperation in the southeastern Mediterranean region in dealing with emergencies. and adaptation to climate change.

With the new Memorandum of Cooperation, the two countries agreed to promote joint actions to strengthen their disaster preparedness, in particular in the areas of design and development of forecasting, monitoring and early warning systems. In addition, they agreed to work together to improve their emergency response capabilities by providing mutual assistance and closer cooperation in the fields of research and technology.

According to the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, this is the first step in promoting closer regional cooperation in the field of Civil Protection in the wider region, as well as an initiative welcomed by Mr. Stylianidis’s interlocutors in Israel, which has the potential to strengthen, through our country, the presence and contribution of the European Civil Protection Mechanism and rescEU in the south-eastern Mediterranean.

Mr. Stylianidis spoke about a particularly important cooperation agreement between Greece and Israel in the field of Civil Protection after the signing of the memorandum with the Ministry of Defense, to which certain issues of crisis management in Israel belong exclusively.

“Our goal, after this upgrade of our co-operation with Israel, is to work together on a wider co-operation in the Southeastern Mediterranean region on natural disasters. This is a regional co-operation which is a great goal for me – I started this Cooperation based on practical solidarity between the countries of the region, in a difficult part of the world, in a hotspot, so that each country can assist the other in a practical way in every emergency, in every Mr. Stylianidis pointed out and added that he also met with the Minister of Public Security, who is in charge of the Fire Brigade, as well as with the Minister of Environment, with whom they discussed the issues of the climate crisis in the Eastern Mediterranean, in framework of 3 + 1 cooperation (Greece, Cyprus, Israel + USA).

He also stressed that regional cooperation will further strengthen Greece’s presence in both the European Civil Protection Mechanism and the RescEU. “Because our country is a hub of the European Mechanism and RescEU for our region, with a special pilot program pre-deployment of European Firefighters to provide assistance to their Greek colleagues, but also with an additional helicopter with European funding to strengthen forest protection in our country and in the wider region. All this with European funding, through the European Mechanism and RescEU ” , he underlined.

At the same time, the minister pointed out that all this gives great opportunities to the country, not only operationally, but also upgrades it geopolitically in a really very critical area. “So, this wider cooperation, but also our bilateral cooperation with Israel, I believe that upgrades our country as the main lever of Civil Protection in our region under the umbrella of European institutions,” said Mr. Stylianidis.

Mr. Stylianidis spoke about a very productive trip to Israel and about a country of special importance for our region, for the southeastern Mediterranean. During his meetings with co-responsible ministers and deputy ministers, the minister said, special emphasis was placed on their cooperation in new technologies that meet the needs of the new “doctrine” for crisis management and added that the new “doctrine” of Prevention, Preparedness / Readiness, Endurance serves emergency management, not only in Greece, but also in Europe and internationally.

During the visit, Mr. Stylianidis also met with the Minister of Public Security, Omer Bar-Lev, with whom he discussed issues of strengthening cooperation between the Fire Brigades of the two countries, mainly regarding the organization of joint exercises, as well as the joint evaluation of new technologies in forest firefighting (technological tools and early warning systems, air patrol procedures, use of retardant fluid, etc.). Also discussed were issues of knowledge exchange on crisis management protocols and procedures, as well as volunteer support programs.

In his meeting with the Minister of Environmental Protection, Tamar Zandberg, the discussions focused on issues of common interest for reducing the effects of the climate crisis in the southeastern Mediterranean, in particular in the context of the 3 + 1 scheme, in which Greece, Cyprus and Israel, along with the US. Finally, the Minister visited the Center for Geological Surveys and had the opportunity to talk with his scientific staff and to be informed in detail about innovative approaches to dealing with seismic risk.