On March 12, 2025, the Subsidy Contract of the Targeted Project of Strategic Importance ‘FloodGuard 2’, with full title “Enhancing the capacity for prevention and response in case of floods and subsequent natural disasters and emergencies in the cross-border region”, was signed by the Greek Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance, Mr. Nikolaos Papathanasis.
With total budget €5,781,498.36, 80% of which is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the project aims to coordinate the two countries to ensure timely response in cases of natural disasters.
The project falls under Priority Axis 1 of the Programme “A more resilient and greener Greece-Bulgaria cross-border territory” and responds to the challenges of Specific Objective 2.4 “Promoting climate change adaptation and disaster risk prevention, resilience taking into account ecosystem-based approaches”.
Its consortium consists of the General Directorate of Fire Safety and Civil Protection of the Bulgarian Ministry of Interior as Coordinating Partner and the Hellenic Fire Corps of the Greek Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection as a Project Partner.
The FloodGuard 2 depends on building on the results of the FloodGuard 1 project, funded under the Cooperation Programme Interreg V-A “Greece-Bulgaria 2014-2020”, which laid the foundations for the creation of a common institutional approach to flood assessment, planning, prevention, and control and for joint coordination between the authorities of the two countries.
The actions of the new project will last 36 months and include, among others, the consolidation of procedures and the establishment of common protocols for rapid flood response in the cross-border area, joint training and field exercises of professionals (Greek and Bulgarian firefighters and civil protection coordinators), the procurement of special rescue service equipment, and awareness-raising actions for pupils and the elderly to improve cross-border readiness for natural disaster response and prevention.
By improving the effectiveness of the authorities’ immediate and targeted response and preparing the general population of the cross-border area for floods and related disasters, the project will contribute to strengthening cross-border cooperation between first responders, as well as to the early response to phenomena that can cause natural disasters in the region.