Newsroom
Bosnia and Herzegovina entities conduct joint natural disaster exercise
VIENNA 6 February 2003
VIENNA, 6 February 2003 - Yesterday, for the first time in over ten years, the armed forces of both entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina - the Federation and Republika Srpska - conducted a command post exercise which simulated a natural disaster along the boundary line separating the two entities.
The exercise, which took place under the auspices of the Joint Consultative Commission and its chairman, General Claudio Zappulla - the OSCE's personal representative for Annex 1B of the Dayton Peace Accords - had two goals: to provide a legitimate opportunity for the entity armed forces to practise working together in support of a simulated emergency, and to test existing civil and military procedures to determine if they are sufficient to effectively manage a natural disaster.
"This was the first such exercise in over ten years, and it was a remarkable success", General Zappulla said. "All levels of state and governments, cantons and municipalities were actively engaged in the preparations leading up to this event and in the exercise itself, and the level of co-operation between the entity armed forces and civil protection agencies was particularly noteworthy."
General Zappulla also expressed his hopes that this command post exercise will be followed by a field training exercise later this year.
The exercise, which took place under the auspices of the Joint Consultative Commission and its chairman, General Claudio Zappulla - the OSCE's personal representative for Annex 1B of the Dayton Peace Accords - had two goals: to provide a legitimate opportunity for the entity armed forces to practise working together in support of a simulated emergency, and to test existing civil and military procedures to determine if they are sufficient to effectively manage a natural disaster.
"This was the first such exercise in over ten years, and it was a remarkable success", General Zappulla said. "All levels of state and governments, cantons and municipalities were actively engaged in the preparations leading up to this event and in the exercise itself, and the level of co-operation between the entity armed forces and civil protection agencies was particularly noteworthy."
General Zappulla also expressed his hopes that this command post exercise will be followed by a field training exercise later this year.