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SYNERGISE participation in the NATO Emergency Management Exercise BULGARIA 2025

Members of the EU-funded SYNERGISE project participated in the NATO Emergency Management Exercise BULGARIA 2025 on September 8-12, 2025.

SYNERGISE - subheadline

NATO’ Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response coordination Centre (EADRCC) and Bulgaria’s Directorate General for Fire Safety and Civil Protection under the Ministry of Interior organised one of the largest and most complex civil emergency exercises worldwide, BULGARIA 2025.

The event took place from 7 to 12 September 2025 at the Professional Training Centre for first responders in Montana, Bulgaria, and was officially opened by the Minister of Interior of Bulgaria, Mr. Alexandar Mitov.

The event brought together over 1000 participants from 28 NATO Allies and 18 Partner nations to train and test disaster response in real-life scenarios, focusing on:

  • Enhancing resilience and disaster preparedness
  • Strengthening civil–military cooperation
  • Testing emergency response mechanisms through realistic crisis scenarios

The initial scenario trigger was a major earthquake, followed by secondary emergencies in the vicinity of Montana.

SYNERGISE consortium members, together with members of the fellow projects FORESIGHT and POWERBASE, participated and tested the innovative technology and expertise in disaster response in realistic conditions, with first responders and experts from across NATO working together for maximum impact.

From SNYERGISE project, partners ASTRIAL, SBFF, THW and TOHOKU participated in the event.

The technologies were deployed in a vehicle accident scenario, showcasing their potential to enhance safety, coordination, and efficiency during complex emergencies.
The tools tested in Bulgaria included:

  • Wearin’’: Vitals and gas sensing wearables
  • Longan Vision Corp.: Thermal imaging integrated into helmets
  • ASTRIAL GmbH: Command & Control System and field communications

The technologies received positive feedback from numerous first responders, highlighting the step change they can bring to real-life disaster response operations in the near future. First Responders from the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW, Germany), Södertörns brandförsvarsförbund (SB, Sweden), and the Sofia Municipality (Bulgaria) actively deployed and tested these technologies during the exercise.