European Union (EU) Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič today signed an agreement with BiH Minister of Security Selmo Cikotić by which BiH officially became a member of the EU Mechanism for Civil Protection.
After signing, Cikotić said that there are many benefits of signing this contract.
“Now we have the opportunity to use all the benefits of the members, to receive support and help for education, schooling, but also for help to eliminate the consequences of natural disasters. We also undertake the obligation to help others”, said Cikotić, and noted that BiH 2015 entered the very process of joining the Mechanism, when 2.5 million BAM was allocated for capacity building.
“Member countries undertake to share resources, exchange information within member countries, but outside the EU. Membership will enable institutions to respond to crises with the help of others, when we exhaust our own capacities,” Cikotić added, and also pointed to the convenience of paying membership fees of only 30 percent in the next five years.
Commissioner Lenarčić said that the mechanism is a symbol of solidarity, mutual assistance between member states, as well as with third countries.
“Any country in the world can ask for help. Bosnia and Herzegovina has done it several times. In 2014, there were terrible floods when 23 European countries offered help. Now Bosnia and Herzegovina becomes an equal participating country in the mechanism and can provide help to others when the need arises. I saw that your civil protections are cooperating, and this procedure is proof that we can work together, based on common interests,” Lenarčić emphasized.
Before signing the contract with the Minister of Security of BiH, Lenarčič also had a meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of BiH Bisera Turković, where the current political situation in BiH and the region was discussed, with an emphasis on the approval of candidate status for BiH.
They also discussed the energy crisis and the challenges that Russian aggression against Ukraine brings for the whole of Europe.
Minister Turković and Commissioner Lenarčič stressed the importance of today’s signing of the Agreement on the Accession of BiH to the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.
