International Conference the future of transatlantic relations: Turning a new page on enhanced cooperation amid new security challenges

The CMDR COE has carried out its third annual Interagency Interaction Seminar at Boyana Residence, Sofia, Bulgaria in the period 8-9 JUN 2015.

The keynote speakers of the seminar were Mr. Dimitar Kyumyurdzhiev – Deputy Minister of Defence, Mr. Guenter Bretschneider - Head of the CEPOS, IS, NATO HQ, RADM Chris Sadler - Reserve Deputy Director, Maritime Operations U.S. Fleet Forces Command and Col Vassil ROUSSINOV – CMDR COE Director.

The CMDR COE is pleased to announce the launch of its third Interagency Interaction Seminar combined with the Urbanisation Experiment Final Coordination Conference (FCC) and Experiment Control Training Session.

The two major events are scheduled to take place at Boyana Residence, Sofia, Bulgaria in the period 8-12 JUN 2015.

The Interagency Interaction Seminar will be held over the course of two days - 8-9 JUN, 2015.

On May 27th 2015 the Bulgarian Deputy Defence Minister, Mr. Dimitar Kyumyurdzhiev formally opened the Partnership Real time Information, Management and Exchange system (ePRIME) training course. This event is organized by the Cooperation and Regional Security Division, NATO HQ International Military Staff, led by Rear Admiral Emil Eftimov. This course is hosted by the Crisis Management and Disaster Response Center of Excellence (CMDR COE).

The Crisis Management and Disaster Response Course was successfully conducted from 19 to 21 MAY 2015 by CMDR COE.

The aim of the course was to provide the attendees with theoretical foundations of NATO Structure and Crisis Management. In addition, the teamworks allowed the participants to apply the theoretical knowledge into practice interacting with respective NATO entities.

CMDR COE is pleased to announce that its third annual seminar for Crisis Management and Disaster Response Interagency Interaction will be held at the Boyana Residency, Sofia from Monday 8th June to Tuesday 09th June 2015.

Three ideas underlie this year seminar as clustered in the shape of three plenary sessions.

The Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR COE) is delighted to announce that the on 31st March the silence procedure by NAC has ended and the Centre has earned status as the 21st NATO COE and its activation as a NATO Military Body with a granted international status under Article 14 of the Paris Protocol, as recommended by HQ SACT.

After successful conduction of the seminar "Visualizing Implication of Climate Change on Military Activities and Relationships" in 2013, its successor "Building Resiliency and Decreasing Vulnerability through Climate Change Adaptation" was unveiled on 30 March 2015. Commodore Mihaylov, director of the Operations and Training Directorate - Bulgarian MOD, formally opened the seminar in Triaditza Hall at Grand Hotel Sofia. The event brings together flag-level representatives of governmental bodies from several NATO countries and 4 PfP nations. It is hosted again by CMDR COE and organized in partnership with the U.S. European Command.

The aim of this hybrid training event is to enhance Balkan States′ capabilities to respond to a regional crisis while testing and improving interoperability of their Modeling and Simulation capabilities.

The IPC organized by Joint Force Command, was held in Charalitsa on 18 and 19 of March 2015. Participants from Ankara, Athens, Belgrade, Bucharest, Podgorica, Sarajevo, Skopje, Sofia, Tirana and NATO – JFTC took part in the meeting.

The busy schedule of the event included brief and discussions on the EXPLAN, Geo-strategic situation and initial assessment. Fruitful syndicate work with important deliverables for the exercise development process were held.

The Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR COE) successfully conducted the pilot Higher Command Crisis Response Operations Course from 24th to 26th of February 2015.

The aim of the course was to introduce the attendees to the competences and tools, enabling successful application of solutions in response to crisis in national or international environment.

The objectives were fully covered over the course of three days which resulted in common understanding on NATO Crisis Management and Political-Military relations and armed the participants with proper tools for management of main activities connected to Political-Military Estimate at Strategic Level.

On Dec 16th, 2014, the Bulgarian Deputy Defence Minister, Mr. Dimitar Kyumyurdzhiev formally opened the Final Adaptation Planning Conference (FAPC) for the Crisis Management Exercise (CMX) 2015. Involving 153 participants from NATO states plus Australia, Japan and Ukraine it had the aim to finalize and adapt the training efforts in order to carry out successfully the upcoming CMX 2015 as effectively and efficiently as possible. "We, representatives of all member states, must be responsible for ensuring that we have in place crisis management and organization capable for managing any unexpected situation. We have to maintain and further develop our capabilities as to fulfill the expectation that the public has entrusted us", pointed Mr. Kyumyurdzhiev in his opening speech.

The Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR COE) successfully conducted the pilot Crisis Response Operations Planners Professional Development Course from 26th to 28th November 2014.

Numerous experts attended the course including representatives from the Bulgarian Ministry of Defence, JFC, Army, Chief Directorate Fire Safety and Civil Protection under the Ministry of Interior, Bulgarian Red Cross, as well as representatives from the Defence Administration Office and the Ministry of Human Resources of Hungary, and the CCD COE, Estonia.

On 24-25 November 2014, the Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR COE) hosted two important events – the 2nd Steering Committee Meeting and the Accreditation Visit from HQ SACT.

During the Steering Committee meeting on 24 November, the SC members approved the proposed Program of Work 2015 of the Centre as well as the proposed CMDR COE budget estimates for FY-2015.

On 22 October 2014, the Deputy Chief of Defence, Major General Konstantin Popov opened the Flag-level Strategic Communications Course.

Organized by the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Bulgaria and CMDR COE in partnership with HQ SACT and STRATCOM COE, the course brings together flag-level representatives of governmental bodies from 11 countries - with the goal to enhance the common understanding in the field of Public Diplomacy, Public Affairs, Information Operations and Psychological Operations.

CMDR COE is pleased to announce that COL Jarosław KUBISZ is joining the Centre to run our Transformation Branch activities.

COL Jarosław KUBISZ representing the Polish Armed Forces (PAF). He finished officers′ military school in 1994, and Academy of National Defence in 2002. Last time he served inter alia in Operational Directorate of the General Staff of the PAF and Crisis Management Centre of the Ministry of National Defence. In both mentioned above institutions he has dealing with crisis management matters in PAF and NATO as well.

Crisis management is one of the fundamental security tasks of the Alliance along with collective defense and cooperative security. Depending on the nature of the crisis, different types of crisis management operations may be required. The good operations planning process understanding is essential for all NATO Planners. In line with this, Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR COE) developed and will run pilot Crisis Response Operations Planners Professional Development Course from 26th to 28th November 2014. The course will be held in English at Shipka hotel, Sofia, Bulgaria.

"We have to learn to counter effectively to the new hybrid type of crisis and disasters, destabilizations and confrontations. And this Centre is a way ahead", stated the Bulgarian president Mr. Rosen Plevneliev in his address to the Opening ceremony of the Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR COE) as an International Organization. The ceremony was with the presence of ambassadors and military attaches of diplomatic missions accredited to the Republic of Bulgaria, commanders of the armed forces, and representatives of other ministries and departments.

The Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR COE) welcomed Major General Terry M. Haston, the Adjutant General Tennessee National Guard for an official visit on August 7th, 2014.

During his visit, Maj. General Haston had an office call with the CMDR COE Director, Col. Vassil Roussinov. The meeting was attended by Maj Hancock, bilateral affairs officer, Office for Defense Cooperation of US Embassy and CMDR COE branch chiefs, Col Nikolay Nikolov and LtC Dimitar Dimitrov.

CMDR COE has successfully hosted its 2nd Annual Seminar, which is designed to facilitate meeting of experts and sharing of experience among bodies dealing with crisis and disaster response. The event took place from 1st to 3rd July, 2014 in Sofia.

Interagency interaction in crisis management and disaster response was the main topic of the seminar. "...If we are united and share our common experiences we will be ready to tackle the different and sometimes unexpected crises and disasters. Crucial for this is the interagency cooperation..." pointed out Rear Admiral Petev in his opening speech.

CMDR COE delegation was in Nashville, Tennessee to attend the four-day 2014 CAPSTONE exercise (16-19 June 14) led by the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA). The purpose of this visit was to make acquaintance with the TEMA procedures and practices of designing and conducting disaster response exercises. The current one was on a scenario of an earthquake with magnitude 7.7 resulting into severe impacts in 8 states. During the exercise were briefings and presentations concerning the organization and responsibilities of the state′s entities in response of a disaster. CMDR COE team held meetings with representatives from the private sector and Red Cross & Red Crescent who present their engagements in case of emergencies. The CMDR COE delegation was well received by MGen Terry M. Haston, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Military as he praised the successful partnership between CMDR COE and the State of Tennessee. He also highlighted ideas for further cooperation as more significant contributions by civilian organizations from NATO countries.

The CMDR COE has received a formal letter of appreciation on behalf of the Croatian Armed Forces General Staff. It recognizes the great efforts CMDR COE Mobile Training Team has done to conduct courses in regard of the of exercise SEESIM 14 preparation process. Expressing special thanks, the Croatian site states the desire to develop cooperation in future.

On 28-30 April 2014, the Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR COE) hosted the workshop Military Medical Response in Disaster Management, sponsored by US European Command (USEUCOM) and the Bulgarian Ministry of Defence. The 3-day workshop focused on topics related to principles and practices of medical and psychological support in military missions as well as in operations in response of disasters. The workshop was attended by more than 25 participants from the Bulgarian Military Medical Academy, Joint Force Command, Land Forces, Air Force, medical experts from the services HQs, and Bulgarian Red Cross. Informative presentations delivered by instructors of 212-th Combat Support Hospital and Military Medical Academy and fruitful discussions during each session treated of important issues like framework of disaster planning process, components of basic and contingency plans, psychological aspects of disaster reaction and preventive medicine.

The Exercise Planners′ Training Course was conducted by the Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR COE) National Defense Academy Mobile Training Team (MTT) in conjunction with the SEESIM 14 Main Planning Conference (MPC) in the Croatian Defense Academy in Zagreb from 31 March to 1 April 2014.

The course was designed to enhance the theoretical knowledge and practical skills of NATO and Partners′ Exercise Planners. The course was attended by 46 participants from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Romania, Montenegro, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, USA, Greece, and SEEBRIG.

The participants were familiarized by members of the MTT with NATO and EU approaches in crisis management and disaster response as well the main exercise planning documents and stages. Presentations "Introduction to Exercise Planning Process", "NATO and EU Crisis Management Systems and Mechanisms", "Main Stages in NATO Exercise Planning Process", "Computer Assisted Exercises and Simulations", and "NATO Crisis Management and Operations Planning" was included in the main part of the course.

U.S. Ambassador to Bulgaria, Marcie B. Ries paid a special visit to the Host Nation Coordination Cell (HNCC) a component of Saber Guardian 2014 co-hosted by the CMDR COE. The Ambassador took part in a VTC with the 7th Civil Support Commander at Novo Selo Training Area and expressed an active interest in matters of the exercise. The Ambassador familiarized with the objectives and goals of Saber Guardian 14 provided realism to the exercise execution. The CMDR COE then hosted the Ambassador at their headquarters where she met with the CMDR Staff.

U.S. Army Europe (US EUCOM) and the Bulgarian Land Forces Soldiers kicked off Saber Guardian 2014 on Mar 31, 2014.

Saber Guardian 2014 is a multinational training exercise designed to reinforce U.S. Army Europe′s commitment to increasing regional flexibility, preserving and enhancing NATO interoperability, and facilitating multinational training.

USAREUR Deputy Commanding General, Maj. Gen. Richard Longo, and Deputy Commander of the Bulgarian Land Forces, Brig. Gen. Krasimir Kanev, will serve as this year′s exercise co-directors.

A Mobile Training Team (MTT) consisted by lectures from the CMDR COE and National Defense Academy has conducted a Crisis Management and Disaster Response Workshop. It took place at the South-Eastern Europe Brigade (SEEBRIG) HQ in Greece from 17 to 19 February 2014. The MTT was led by col.Lyubomir Simeonov, Deputy Chief of National Defence Academy

The SEEBRIG was established and activated by seven participating Nations on 31st of August 1999 and is currently located in Larissa. The workshop goals were to provide educational information and details for the Crisis Management understanding and the NATO COEs Network covering the HQ staff area of interest by:

A welcoming speech of the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, His Excellency Matthias Hoepfner has opened the Civil-Military Interaction: Disaster Preparation and Response Workshop, which is taking place in Sofia, 11-13 February 2014. The event is under the patronage of George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies and co-hosted with the Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR COE). The workshop is attended by representatives from civilian and military structures from 11 countries – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece , FYROM, Kosovo, Romania , Croatia, Montenegro and USA. In addition on the American side taking part are delegations from the National Guard of the states of Vermont, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey and Tennessee as part of the State Partnership Program.

The Final Planning Conference of the exercise Saber Guardian 14 was held in Sofia last week (3-7 Feb 2014). The CMDR COE experts headed by LtC Orlin Nikolov, head of Capabilities Branch, participated in the workshops of the Contingency Management Planning/Unified Action (CPM/UA) syndicate.

On February 5, 2015, the CPM/UA members met with representatives of several GOs and NGOs. The meeting was arranged by the CMDR COE and co-hosted with the J9 USEUCOM as there were entities as Bulgarian Ministry of Interior, Chief Directorate Fire Safety and Civil Protection, State Agency of National Security, State Agency for Refugees, Bulgarian Academy of Science, Military Medical Academy, Red Cross, Caritas Bulgaria, Gender Research Foundation, Tennessee National Guard, Bulgarian Modeling and Simulation Association (BULSIM). The purpose of the meeting was to present them the scenario and storyline of their engagement into the exercise.

The initial planning conference for the distributed computer assisted exercise South Eastern Europe Simulation Network (SEESIM 14) was held in Zagreb, Croatia. The Republic of Bulgaria is co-organizer and participates actively in the conducting of the exercise together with the Host Nation. Among the participants are also representatives of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Montenegro, Romania, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, United States of America and the SEEBRIG.

The exercise is held under the auspices of the Ministers of Defence of the SEE Nations.

• In 3-7 of February experts from the CMDR COE team will take part in the Final Planning Conference of the SABER GUARDIAN ′14 Exercise, organized by the US EUCOM and BGR LANDFORCE.

The purpose of the exercise is to train and educate civilian and military participants in planning and conducting an UN mandated Chapter VII Peace Operation/Crisis Response Operation, based on a Comprehensive Approach, and focusing on co-operation and co-ordination within an unstable environment, involving all stakeholders. The principal exercise focus is the civilian-military cooperation and coordination. The scenario supports exercising a wide range of peace operations functions (e.g. rule of law, humanitarian, etc.). The CMDR COE will contribute to achieving the exercise objectives by providing subject matter expert support in the CMDR area and by organizing distributed point for White cell.

• In 11-13 February 2014 the Civil-Military Interaction: Disaster Preparedness and Response Workshop will take place in Sofia. The workshop is sponsored by the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Bulgaria and the CMDR COE. The workshop comprises lectures dedicated to NATO and EU Crisis Management, role of military in civil security, risk management, as well as discussions and tabletop exercise.

The CMDR COE organised an internal seminar which was held on 20.12.2013. The main focus of the seminar was the crisis in Syria. The CMDR COE experts discussed issued related to the chronology of the crisis; the increased influx of refugees to neighbouring countries and Bulgaria; the positions of NATO, the UN and EU; the involvement of international humanitarian organisations etc.