The Republic of Moldova (hereafter ‘Moldova’) signed an agreement to join the UCPM on 29 September 2023. The membership fully entered into force on 1 January 2024, after its ratification by Moldova. Head of the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations (GIES), Alexandru Oprea, shared his insights with ECHO on Moldova’s accession to the Mechanism.
What does the UCPM membership mean for Moldova?
Our first contact with the UCPM occurred in 2008, during a major flood, when we requested and received assistance from abroad. Since then, we have had several opportunities to confirm our affiliation to EU values and principles. Firstly, membership in the UCPM is an important step for Moldova towards EU integration, which has become our national objective. Secondly, it means more security for my country and for the region. Any additional partner added to the European civil protection family brings additional value to the region. The interaction and mutual aid break barriers for the ultimate beneficiaries – people in the region
In your opinion, how can Moldova contribute to the UCPM, now or in the future, in terms of capacities, knowledge, and expertise?
‘A small country with a big heart!’ This is how my country was described last year while trying to manage the inflow of people from Ukraine. In the last two years, we have been part of missions abroad: wildfires in Greece (2021), COVID-19 response in Romania (2021), and the earthquake in Türkiye (2023). We have shown that we are compatible and interoperable with colleagues from other countries. Response is just one side of the coin, but it shows the progress we are trying to achieve. We have taken advantage of every opportunity to increase our internal capacities: through the UCPM Training Programme, the PPRD East 3 programme, Technical Assistance projects, bilateral projects, and contacts with UCPM member and participating states. These actions enabled our personnel to apply EU procedures and knowledge. We have recently benefitted from a peer review (see the following article). The peer review report highlighted the strengths of the Moldovan civil protection and disaster risk management system, and identified recommendations to further strengthen it.
What are the main lessons learnt for Moldova following the impact of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, and how can the UCPM membership help in the future?
A crisis may hit you any time. Thousands of women and children running away from war and seeking security and assistance in Moldova – we could not imagine such a scenario. It seemed so unreal and so demanding! We wonder what could have happened if we had not have been prepared for such a situation. This is another important lesson – ‘being prepared in advance to lessen the impact’. ‘We are not alone!’ This was another important lesson for us to learn. By requesting international assistance, we felt what the ‘EU solidarity principle’ really is. We are thankful to all UCPM member and participating states and other countries that shared their resources and enabled us to respond to all the challenges. By being part of the EU civil protection family, we will continue to contribute to increased safety and security
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