The General Director of National Defence Policy and International Relations (GDNDPIR) of the Ministry of National Defence (MoD) Dr. Konstantinos Balomenos, participated on Friday, December 16, 2022, in the Distinguished Visitors Day (DV Day) which completed the Simulation exercise “SEESIM 22” (South Eastern Europe Simulation), which was designed and organised by the General Secretariat for Civil Protection.
The exercise “SEESIM — 22” is of the type Command Post/Computer Assisted Exercise (CPX/CAX), is part of the activities of Southeastern Europe Defence Ministerial (SEDM) and took place from Tuesday 13 to Friday 16 December 2022 at the premises of the School of Computer Programmers (SPIY) at Camp “ZORBA” in Goudi, Attica. This exercise was conducted in a fully virtual environment, using a platform developed by the Data Processing Centre (KMI) of the Hellenic Air Force General Staff, as well as the SEDM portal.
The purpose of the exercise was to increase coordination and interoperability between SEDM’s Member States with the South-Eastern Europe Brigade (SEEBRIG), as well as to strengthen their operational readiness through co-training in advanced emergency and disaster response scenarios, such as earthquakes, floods, accidents and cyberattacks on critical infrastructure.
Staff from all three branches of the Armed Forces participated in the exercise, as well as the Hellenic Police, the Hellenic Coast Guard, the Fire Brigade and the National Center for Immediate Assistance (EKAV).
Albania, the Republic of North Macedonia, Türkiye, Romania, the SEEBRIG Multinational Brigade, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) and the NATO Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR CoE) also participated with specialised staff in the exercise. In addition, the Republic of Moldova participated with Observers.
The scenarios of the exercise included:
Addressing emergency situations in critical infrastructure, following a large earthquake, by the remote Control Centres (EXCON Forward) deployed in the participating countries.
Disaster response, following an earthquake and tsunami, by the Exercise Control Centre (EXCON Main) in Greece.
Dealing with incidents of violence in the temporary shelters of the affected.
In the Day of Distinguished Visitors participated,apart from the General Director of National Defence Policy and International Relations, Dr. Konstantinos Balomenos:
The Counsellor of the Embassy of the Republic of North Macedonia, Mr Samir Ganija, as representative of Ambassador Ms Lidija Boskovska;
The Director of Operations Branch of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff, Major General Konstantinos Gounaris;
The Director of the Operational Training — Simulation Exercises Directorate of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff, Rear Admiral Georgios Angouras HN;
The Defence Attachés from Albania, Bulgaria, the Republic of North Macedonia and Romania;
Representatives of the participating countries from Albania, Türkiye, Romania, the Republic of North Macedonia, as well as representatives from SEEBRIG and CMDR CoE.
