EU monitors floods in Slovenia, ready to jump in to help
Brussels, 4 August - The severe floods in Slovenia are being monitored by the EU Emergency Response Coordination Centre, European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič announced on Friday. The EU commissioner from Slovenia said the EU Civil Protection Mechanism was ready to be activated if the relevant national services asked for assistance.
Mengeš
Firefighters evacuate kids from a kindergarten in Mengeš, north of Ljubljana, on 4 August.
Photo: Mengeš Fire Brigade
File photo
Mengeš
Firefighters evacuate kids from a kindergarten in Mengeš, north of Ljubljana.
Photo: Mengeš Fire Brigade
Mengeš
Firefighters evacuate kids from a kindergarten in Mengeš, north of Ljubljana, on 4 August.
Photo: Mengeš Fire Brigade
FIle photo
"As always, in the event that the relevant national services ask for assistance, we are ready to immediately activate the EU Civil Protection Mechanism," Lenarčič said on Twitter.
When the scale of an emergency situation exceeds the country's ability to respond on its own, it can ask for assistance through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, the Civil Protection and Disaster Relief Administration says on its website.
After a request is sent and the mechanism is activated, other member states offer assistance through the Emergency Response Coordination Centre, and the requesting country then decides whether to accept the assistance.
The EU capabilities do not substitute for the existing national capabilities to respond to a natural disaster, but rather supplement them, and are available when all civil protection capabilities, both national and in the EU, have been exhausted.
In 2019, the European Commission upgraded the EU Civil Protection Mechanism by creating rescEU as a reserve of European capacity, to further protect citizens from disasters and manage emerging risks.
It is fully funded by the EU, and includes a fleet of firefighting planes and helicopters, medical evacuation planes, and a stockpile of medical items and field hospitals that can respond to health emergencies.