The Ministry of the Interior of Montenegro, in cooperation with partners from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, has begun the implementation of the strategic cross-border project INEREP, aimed at improving cross-border cooperation in emergency response, with a value of nearly €15 million.
Of this amount, around €3.2 million in non-refundable European Union funds has been allocated for the participation of Montenegro’s Ministry of the Interior. These funds will be used to procure firefighting and off-road vehicles for fire suppression, modular containers for training in indoor firefighting, as well as rescue and technical equipment for interventions. In addition, a modular tunnel model for simulating rescue operations will be developed and office furniture will be procured for the National Training Centre in Podgorica. Furthermore, joint training sessions in Podgorica and Split will strengthen ties among protection and rescue services and enable the exchange of knowledge and best practices.
Today in Split, the start of the implementation of this project was ceremonially marked. The project officially began on 1 July this year and will last for 48 months.
In addition to the Ministry of the Interior – Directorate for Protection and Rescue, the project also involves Split-Dalmatia County as the lead partner, as well as the Federal Administration of Civil Protection of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Civil Protection Administration of Republika Srpska, the Firefighters Training and Technological Development Centre of Split, and the Development and Guarantee Fund of the Brčko District.
The INEREP project delivers concrete and modern solutions in the field of protection and rescue: the development of a joint action plan for prevention and preparedness, the development of the FireGIS application for real-time monitoring of fire risk, joint training of emergency response services, as well as the construction and equipping of new training centres and fire stations.
“We are all witnessing that climate change is making extreme weather events, such as fires and floods, increasingly frequent and intense. Such events in recent years have often had consequences for human lives, nature, property and infrastructure in this area. This project enables us, through strategic investments, the strengthening of technical and organizational capacities, and raising public awareness, to jointly improve prevention and response to emergency situations,” emphasized Miloš Marković, Director General of the Directorate for European Territorial Cooperation at the Ministry of European Affairs of Montenegro, in his address at the ceremonial conference in Split.
INEREP is one of three strategic projects approved under the Interreg VI-A IPA Programme Croatia – Bosnia and Herzegovina – Montenegro 2021–2027. It is the largest Interreg project implemented in this programme area. Other projects of strategic importance implemented under this cooperation programme are LIFEGATE in the field of healthcare and SATECON in the field of sustainable agriculture.
“The INEREP project will significantly contribute to strengthening cross-border cooperation of protection and rescue services, improving institutional capacities, modernizing infrastructure and applying modern digital tools. In this way, we will create conditions for faster response, better coordination and greater preparedness of local communities in such events,” Marković stated.