EU MODEX international exercise in Targu Mures, nothing to do with war in Ukraine (StateSec Arafat)

The head of the Department for Emergency Situations (DSU), Raed Arafat, told a press conference on Monday that the international exercise of simulating an explosion followed by hazardous gas leaks into the atmosphere, organized by EU MODEX for five days, at the Azomures plant in central Targu Mures, the Mures County, has nothing to do with the war in Ukraine, Agerpres reports.

"Today, around 5:55 am, the exercise was initiated. The population was informed in advance because both the sirens at the site of the chemical plant in Targu Mure and the Ro-Alert system were used. Messages were sent in Romanian, English and Hungarian. We conduct this exercise because we have to prepare our forces for any eventuality. This does not mean that something will happen tomorrow. (...) For us, the exercise is extremely important because we can learn and better prepare. Even though the odds are slim, and I would like to point out that it has nothing to do with the war in Ukraine. It has been planned for a long time. It was shut down due to the pandemic and resumed, planning and all, after things have settled with it," said Raed Arafat.

The head of the DSU also showed that Romania had an obligation to conduct this exercise, even if the probability of such an event occurring is low, but "it is mandatory that our forces be prepared and, above all, we find out what is wrong so that we can make corrections".

"Three-tiered forces are involved in the exercise. The first is the local forces, starting with the firefighters from the chemical plant site, after which the firefighters from the municipality and from Mure County and here, at this level of response, both SMURD and the Ambulance Service are included, but also all the order forces: the police, the gendarmerie, absolutely everyone that must participate in the intervention. Then the regional and national part where IGSU has already given the order to deploy forces and at this moment there are forces that are on their way to Targu Mures to supplement the intervention forces. We already have a European Civil Protection monitoring team, and, if need be, European support is to be requested. This means that the next step, which will take about 24 hours, will be for teams from other countries to step in," said Arafat.

During the five days of the exercise, about 600 people are set to intervene in Targu Mures, plus a large number of volunteers who participate as casualties.

According to Arafat, there are two international teams that come with field hospitals, from Italy and Germany, but there are observers from at least 10 countries at the exercise.

The mayor of Targu Mures, Soos Zoltan, said that the exercise is welcome because last year it turned out that such accidents can happen.

The exercise is part of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism aimed at testing the emergency medical services response to extreme situations.