Epress.am News from Armenia
Today, on the morning of Sept. 11, in the city of Arzni in Kotayk marz (province) in Armenia, NATO’s Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre (EADRCC) begun its management field exercise called “Armenia 2010.”
Teams from 15 Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) and Mediterranean Dialogue (MD) nations are planned to take part in the exercise and 11 additional countries are scheduled to participate by sending staff officers, according to a release on the NATO official website.
All together, more than 600 individuals belonging to civilian and military teams from NATO and partner countries with capabilities to deal with different aspects of emergencies will take part in the event. Some 40 observers are also expected.
According to Regnum news agency, the RA Ministry of Emergency Situations has allocated 20.24 million AMD (about $55,600 USD) for costs related to bringing equipment to Armenia.
“Armenia 2010” will allow NATO and partner countries to practice disaster response mechanisms and capabilities and to enhance co-operation in emergency situations.
The scenario for the exercise will be a severe earthquake in the vicinity of Yerevan, resulting in high numbers of victims and widespread damage to critical infrastructure, including chemical spills and a radiological incident.
The disaster response exercise runs through till Sept. 17.
[Editor’s Note: the information from Regnum news agency on RA Ministry expenses was added later.]