Minister of Interior Constantinos Ioannou and EU Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management Hadja Lahbib have discussed strengthening EU-Mediterranean region cooperation and the significance of the Cyprus Regional Aerial Firefighting Support Hub in dealing with fires and other natural disasters.
The two had a meeting on the sidelines of the 3rd Euro-Mediterranean High-Level Workshop on Fire Risks, which was organised by the Civil Defence in the framework of the Cyprus EU Presidency on 7 May, an Interior Ministry press release said.
During the meeting, they discussed issues related to the strengthening of cooperation between EU Member States and third countries in the Mediterranean region for effective crisis management and the strengthening of regional preparedness and resilience, the press release said.
"They both referred to the significance of CRAFS, Cyprus Regional Aerial Firefighting Support Hub in substantially enhancing the prevention, preparedness and response capabilities for fires and other natural disasters," it added.
Ioannou and the Commissioner also discussed the progress of the discussions on the Regulation on the reinforcement of the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism, with the aim of developing a more effective and resilient European crisis management framework.
The Minister thanked Commissioner Lahbib for her cooperation and continued support in the efforts to strengthen preparedness, resilience and cooperation between EU MS.
(Source: CNA)
