Greece’s Deputy Minister of Civil Protection Nikos Hardalias and Russia’s Deputy Minister for Emergency Situations Alexander Chupriyan discussed strengthening relations between Athens and Moscow in the field of Civil Protection during an e-meeting held on Thursday.
Hardalias stated that the priorities are extroversion, exchange of experts, know-how and good practices, organisation of joint exercises and trainings, as well as close cooperation in the whole range of disaster management including prevention and rehabilitation.
The minister stressed that the strengthening of bilateral cooperation with Russia, a country with significant know-how and capabilities in the above areas, acquires special added value.
According to Sputnik Hellas, the two sides agreed to convene the first meeting of the Joint Committee for the Implementation of the Existing Greece-Russia Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Prevention and Response to Natural and Man-Made Disasters.
Both men agreed on exchange visits between Moscow and Athens by high-ranking delegations to further promote civil protection co-operation as soon as pandemic conditions allow.
The Russian side proposed that Greece become a member of the International Sports Federation for Firefighters-Rescuers, a proposal which Nikos Hardalias accepted.
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