Amb. Krzysztof Paturej, ICCSS President hosted President of the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief (Technisches Hilfswerk /THW/), the honorable Mr. Albrecht Broemme during a visit to ICCSS on 27th December, 2019. The visit, organized upon the ICCSS invitation, included bilateral discussions at the ICCSS, visit to POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, Warsaw sightseeing tour, and official dinner.

ICCSS President and THW President discussed progress in the development of cooperation with countries of Eastern Europe within the ICCSS led EU-CHEM-REACT 2 program in civil protection and crisis management. They discussed ICCSS regional activities, including in the Middle East, to enhance chemical and environmental safety and security, while promoting international civil preparedness and response to chemical and environmental disasters.

As the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW) is an international leader in providing assistance and cooperation in civil protection and disaster management, a cooperation and support in ICCSS international led programs was discussed. The honorable Mr. Albrecht Broemme praised ICCSS efforts to increase European and international cooperation to prevent, prepare for and respond to chemical and environmental disasters. In this context, he supported and offered THW participation in the international, funded by the EU, EU-CHEM-REACT 2 program, which provides for the conduct of series of civil protection exercises in Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine, and under the UCPM aegis. He highly assessed the outcomes of EU-CHEM-REACT 2 Table Top Exercise (TTX) organized in Minsk in October 2019, combined with the field demonstrations of Belarus capacities, which he attended as a special guest. He noted EU-CHEM-REACT value in combining high civil protection in the countries of the Eastern Europe with European Union capacities, under UCPM.   

Amb. Krzysztof Paturej stated: “THW has our sincere gratitude for its commitment and engagement to peaceful development and cooperation and for its support of the international civil protection and crisis management. We look forward to international cooperation to enhance chemical and environmental safety and security in civil protection.”

THW President invited the ICCSS Delegation to visit Berlin to discuss further cooperation.

The visit included meetings with Mr. Waldemar Pawlak, President of Polish Volunteer Fire Service, and gen. ret. Wieslaw Lesniakiewicz, Vice President of  Polish Volunteer Fire Service. They discussed the cooperation and THW support for the development of volunteer fire service and use of volunteer fire fighters in international civil protection and disaster management operations. They noted the importance of  EU-CHEM-REACT 2 program  in the development and promotion of volunteer fire services within the UCPM.

At the conclusion of the visit, in recognition of personal commitment and over 40 years of active engagement in fire service and civil protection, and on the occasion of his incoming retirement the honorable Mr. Albrecht Broemme received commemorative saber with the dedication:”… for leadership and cooperation in international civil protection, from Polish and international partners”.

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Photos of the visit >