Past Events

 Local Emergency Management Agency – LEMA members visiting the Base of Operation in Kotor

The international field exercise on the topic of earthquake response - BALANCE 2022, organized by the Directorate for Protection and Rescue of the Ministry of Interior, began on October 10 and will last until October 14, 2022. The exercise is conducted at 12 locations in Kotor, Tivat and Herceg Novi. The locations in question are in the Old Town of Kotor, then Autoboka, the former Riviera factory, the Resource Center for Hearing and Speech "Dr. Peruta Ivanović" in Kotor, Župa, Opatovo, Luštica and Tajno Brdo, while the camp (base of operation) for the accommodation of rescue teams built on the site of the former Fjord Hotel. The exercise is held within the framework of the EU project BALANCE - Management of large-scale earthquakes in the Western Balkans through joint activities of cross-border cooperation, which is implemented as part of the Union Mechanism for Civil Protection.

Institute of Hydrometeorology and Seismology – IHMS Montenegro registered the earthquake with the epicentre 8 km south of Herceg Novi (Boka bay), Montenegro. After processing data, the National Operational-Communication Centre 112 has been informed.

Operational-Communication Centre 112 (OCC) stared with communication, coordination and interoperability among local and national structures. In the first step target audience discuss about:

1) What happened?

2) Set up Local Emergency Management Agency - LEMA and understanding situation? First forces are on the field? Collection of first information?

3) Decide does Montenegro need International Assistance of European Civil Protection Team - EUCPT and Technical Assistance Support Team - TAST and which kind of expertise?

4) Which bilateral agreements in the field of emergencies are exist?

5) Who is responsible for sending request for international assistance?

As part of the BALANCE project, a week of educational campaign was organized in an open space, through which citizens were introduced to the international exercise that will be held in the area of ​​the municipalities of Kotor, Tivat and Herceg Novi from 10-14 October 2022, and to the basic concepts of earthquakes and the seismicity of Montenegro, preventive activities and behaviour during and after the earthquake.

On October 5, 6, and 7, representatives of the Directorate for Protection and Rescue of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Montenegro held workshops on city squares in Herceg Novi, Tivat, and Kotor. On that occasion, participants were given flyers / Instructions for actions in the event of an earthquake.

As part of the BALANCE project, a three-day educational campaign was organized through which students were introduced to the goals of the project, the international exercise that will be held in the area of ​​the municipalities of Kotor, Tivat and Herceg Novi, and the basic concepts of earthquakes, the seismicity of Montenegro, preventive activities and behaviour in during and after the earthquake.

On September 21, 26 and 27, representatives of the Directorate for Protection and Rescue of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Montenegro held workshops in high schools "Ivan Goran Kovačić" in Herceg Novi and "Mladost" in Tivat and in the Palace of Byzanti in Kotor. On that occasion, students were given flyers / Instructions for actions in the event of an earthquake.

In addition to the aforementioned workshops on 27.09. (Tuesday) at 10:00 a.m., a meeting of the Kotor Municipal Protection and Rescue Team was held in the Palace of Byzanti in Kotor, where members of the municipal team were informed about the BALANCE project and the upcoming international field exercise that will take place between October 10 and 14 in the area of ​​Boka Kotorska.

The presentation was jointly held by the Commander of the Kotor Protection and Rescue Service, Maksim Mandić, and the Head of PJ Herceg Novi - the Directorate for Public Safety, Lidija Petrona Kolar, in which they presented the objectives of the project and the exercises, the participants, the preparatory and planned activities during the exercise, the responsibilities of the members of the municipal team and other participants, as well as locations in the area of ​​the municipalities of Kotor, Tivat and Herceg Novi.

The President of the Municipality of Kotor, Mr. Vladimir Jokić, expressed his satisfaction that the exercise is being held in the area of ​​the Municipality of Kotor and emphasized the importance of providing an effective response to the earthquake through the coordination of all participants. With full support for the organizers, the president announced his active participation in the exercise.