Second team meeting of the project “Cross-Border Cooperation in Forest Fire Fighting”

Within the project “Cross-Border Cooperation in Forest Fire Fighting” co-funded by the European Union through the Interreg IPA Cross-border Cooperation Program between the Republic of Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia, on 16.12.2021, in the business hall of the Hotel “Sirius” Strumica – Republic North Macedonia, the second meeting of the project team was held.

The main purpose of the team meeting was to discuss the current activities of the project, the direction of their movement, as well as the plans that will help in the implementation of future activities.

The announced tender procedure for procurement of firefighting equipment was discussed, as well as the next steps related to the tender.

The team also gave his positive opinion for the successfully held Workshop for creating a cross-border network for prevention and response to natural and environmental dangers and the prepared Memorandum of Cooperation.

 

The project is co-funded by EU and National Funds of the participating countries through the Interreg-IPA CBC Republic of Bulgaria – Republic of North Macedonia Programme CCI 2014TC16I5CB006

First press conference held within the project “Cross-Border Cooperation in Forest Fire Fighting”

The Centre for Development of the South-East Planning Region, within the project “Cross-Border Cooperation in Forest Fire Fighting” on September 24, 2021, at Hotel Sirius, Strumica held a press conference where representatives of the media from the region were invited. The project team together with the Director of the Centre, Ms. Zhulieta Gjurkova, and a representative of the Territorial Firefighting Unit (TPPE), Strumica, presented the activities and expected results to better inform the public what is the purpose of the project and what benefits are expected from it.
Through this project, 112 firefighters from the South-East Planning Region will receive specialized personal protective equipment for forest fires. As a result of the analysis, it is realized that no firefighting unit in this region has suits for firefighters intended for forest fires.

“Our goal and our idea are to be side by side with all European firefighters, to have the complete equipment to be able to respond to disasters. “They are capable, they have all the skills necessary, they are trained, but they need to have the appropriate equipment and be properly dressed to be effective in such situations.” – said the Director of the Centre for Development of the South-East Planning Region, Ms. Gjurkova.

For firefighters, the procurement of new equipment is very important because it will provide much greater efficiency during forest interventions, and at the same time will increase their safety, said Mr. Risto Janakiev – representative of TPPE Strumica, and added that with the equipment they will significantly approach the standards of the European Union.

At the press conference, through a short presentation by the project team, the journalists were informed about the other activities planned within this project, the establishment of a cross-border network for prevention and response to natural and environmental hazards arising from forest fires, organization of six specialized trainings for the representatives of the territorial firefighting units and volunteer associations with internationally certified trainers, promotion and raising of public awareness for encouraging volunteerism in firefighting as well as prevention of forest fires.

The project is scheduled to last 24 months.

First meeting of the team on the project “Cross-Border Cooperation in Forest Fire Fighting” held in Blagoevgrad, Republic of Bulgaria

In the frame of the project “Cross-border Cooperation in Forest Fire Fighting” funded by the European Union through the Interreg IPA CBC Program between the Republic of Bulgaria and Republic of North Macedonia on 30.08.2021 and 31.08.2021, in Blagoevgrad at the premises of the Lead Partner – Association of Southwestern Municipalities, Republic of Bulgaria, the first meeting of the project team was held.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the project activities, what has been implemented until now and what are the next steps of implementation of each of the partners.

Following the obligations for the Request for First Level Control, the two partners jointly submitted the requests in coordination within the deadline. On the meeting, the team reviewed and discussed the Project Progress Report 2 (PP2), which was submitted to the Beneficiary Portal for the previous project period.
The team also discussed for the maintenance of the first press-conferences within the project, as well as the first workshop for the establishment of a cross-border network for prevention and response in case of natural and environmental hazards. According to the active measures at that time for COVID-19.

The project is co-funded by the European Union and the National Funds of the participating countries through the Interreg IPA Cross-Border Cooperation Program between the Republic of Bulgaria – Republic of North Macedonia 2014-2020.