President of Ukraine and NATO Secretary General opened training on liquidation of consequences of emergencies: It is an opportunity to work together

​In Lviv region, President Petro Poroshenko and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg solemnly opened Ukraine-NATO training on liquidation of consequences of emergencies “Ukraine-2015”.
Addressing the participants of training, Petro Poroshenko called this day a unique day in the history of Ukraine-NATO relations, for it is the first visit of the NATO Secretary General to Ukraine and the first such training held jointly with NATO. “It is another evidence of enhancement of our special partnership with NATO,” the President emphasized.
According to the Head of State, the given training will promote the improvement of readiness of Ukrainian rescue services to help people in time, eliminate threats, man-made emergencies and natural disasters. The President mentioned the impressive scale of training: 1100 rescuers from 34 countries of the world are involved in it.
Addressing the NATO Secretary General, the President emphasized: “We highly appreciate great practical benefit of these exercises for the improvement of the level of training of our rescue services, which is particularly important in conditions of Russian aggression against Ukraine”.
The Head of State called the participation of 34 countries in the training a manifestation of solidarity with the people of Ukraine in one of the most difficult periods of Ukrainian modern history. “We are grateful to our NATO partners for an opportunity to carry out this international training in Ukraine,” Petro Poroshenko said. The President expressed special gratitude to NATO countries for their professional, technical and humanitarian support for Ukraine.
In his turn, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg emphasized: “NATO exists to ensure people’s security and this includes the liquidation of consequences of emergencies”. NATO has been conducting such training for 15 years already.
Jens Stoltenberg noted that NATO representatives assemble together every year not to learn how to wage a war, but to train their interaction in a disaster and skills of rescuing human lives.
The NATO Secretary General said that Ukraine was aware of natural and man-made disasters from its own experience. “In any circumstances, irrespective of the reason, Ukraine and its partners must be ready and able to react as efficiently as possible,” he emphasized.
Jens Stoltenberg stressed: “It is not a military training. It is an opportunity for those who have to be the first to react to work together on search and rescue operations, interaction of chemical, biological and radiological protection experts, as well as police, medical and fire services of NATO countries and states-partners”.
Jens Stoltenberg thanked the President and Ukrainians for hosting the training. “Hosting this training you demonstrate that Ukraine is willing to contribute to the security of European nations and the entire Euro-Atlantic region,” he said.
The NATO Secretary General emphasized: “This training can really and substantially change our approaches to the reaction to a real emergency in Ukraine or in any other NATO member-state or partner”. According to him, the training was joined by observers from the UN, European Union, Japan and Jordan.
Jens Stoltenberg noted that the experience of previous training allowed saving lives of people all over the world, especially after Hurricane Katrina, earthquake in Pakistan in 2005 and flood in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2014. “The lessons of this week will help save human lives in the future,” he added.
The President and the NATO Secretary General examined the training of rescuers and medics. The work of modern rescue services from all over the world, as well as of transportable mobile hospital with telemedicine capabilities has been demonstrated. Also, rescue vehicles from various countries and modern chemical and radiological laboratory have been shown.
During the training, the subject of rescue operations will include a wide range of activities: exploration of emergency area, various kinds of difficult rescue operations, full range of medical care from evacuation to specialized assistance. Elimination of accidents at chemically dangerous objects and difficult fire extinguishing will also be worked out.
During the exercise, special attention will be paid to the measures on informing the public about the situation and the measures taken to normalize it. These measures will be implemented by joint teams of international media professionals. For the first time, significant part of rescue operations will be conducted at night.