Bosnia and Herzegovina is now a member of the EU’s Civil Protection Mechanism, a solidarity mechanism which, at the request of countries struggling to cope with a large-scale natural or man-made disaster, provides urgent assistance in kind, coordinated by the European Commission, which finances at least 75% of transport costs.
In Sarajevo on Tuesday, 6 September, the European Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, and the Minister of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Selmo Cikotić, signed the agreement through which the EU grants the Western Balkan country the official status of member of the Civil Protection Solidarity Framework.
Bosnia and Herzegovina, like any other EU or non-EU country that requests it, has already received urgent assistance through the Civil Protection Mechanism, managed by the European Commission through its Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC). It will continue to be a potential beneficiary and can now make civil protection capacities available in response to requests for assistance from other countries.
“Fully fledged participation in the EU Civil Protection Mechanism is a recognition of the significant progress Bosnia and Herzegovina has made over the years in building a resilient civil protection system”, commented Lenarčič, welcoming “an important step towards stronger European crisis response“.
The signing ceremony took place in Sarajevo, the day after an informal meeting in Brussels during which the European Commission and the competent ministers of the countries participating in the EU Civil Protection Mechanism agreed to strengthen the EU’s preparedness and response to forest fires for the 2023 season, following a devastating summer in 2022 (see EUROPE 13014/12).
Bosnia and Herzegovina is the 34th member of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, which so far includes the EU27 as well as Norway, Iceland, Turkey, Serbia, North Macedonia and Montenegro. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)