The Sfantu Gheorghe branch of the Danube on Thursday hosted an inter-institutional training exercise that dealt with the management of a refugee crisis in the Danube Delta area and prisoners of war, an event that was part of a wider Sea Shield exercise.
The military exercise designed to secure the interoperability of the entities participating in a multinational framework was attended by ten ships of the Romanian Navy (FNR), as well as over 100 people, military, employees of decentralised bodies, as well as volunteers.
What was enacted was a scenario according to which a group of 20 people crossed the border illegally, and upon notification of a local, its members are taken over by the authorities, but some of them revolt. At the same time, a ship crosses the border illegally, is arrested, one person is injured, and others become prisoners of war.
"We want to collaborate with partners from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Special Telecommunications Service, the Public Health Directorate, the County Ambulance Service, the Prefecture, in order to harmonise our joint action procedures," the commander of river battle group 26.1, head of the Sea Shield training exercise, Captain Commander Alin Dogaru, told AGERPRES at the opening of the exercise.
For some participants in the event, the inter-institutional training in the management of a refugee crisis in the Danube Delta area was just a new exercise of the skills acquired in the last four years, when the conflict in Ukraine escalated, and thousands of people from Ukraine arrived on the soil of the European Union through the border crossing in the town of Isaccea in Tulcea County.
"We have the experience of receiving such people because we have to get involved in all aspects, to ensure order during the procedures of triage, verification of identity documents, establishing subsequent measures. These people have the right to live civilized in a country they arrive in because of a war," said the chief inspector of the County Inspectorate of Gendarmes (IJJ), Colonel Ion Bordei.
The volunteers of the local branch of the Romanian Red Cross (CRR) organisation also participated in the inter-institutional training.
"The Red Cross is in charge of family reunification and compliance with the Geneva treaties, first of all. Let's not forget that the exchange of prisoners is also done through this organisation," said the CRR representative, Nicolae Grigore.
The commander of the River Flotilla, Commander Fanel Radulescu, mentioned that the exercise was organised to show the population of this area of Romania that it is protected, as large number of calls recorded to 112 and ten, respectively, after the last RO-ALERT message sent amid the conflict unleashed by Russia in Ukraine, demonstrates the fears of the inhabitants of the county.
"Sea Shield has several stages and elements planned. The series are designed very elaborately and concisely, so that, simultaneously with other moments that take place at the seaside, in the Babadag or Smardan shooting ranges, all the country's defence needs are covered," Radulescu told AGERPRES.
The River Flotilla is unique in this part of the European Union both by the nature of the missions it has to cover, by its specificity and equipment, but also by the areas it has to cover.
"We are perfectly interoperable, perfectly integrated, we carried out the activities without any repetition, and everything developed in the real flow of events. This was also the real objective of the exercise, beyond the appearance of the civilian population to be masters of the situation, we proved that, without any repetition, we were able to execute the actions from a pre-established plan, so that they would proceed in a continuous flow and go on the specific procedures of each institution and show that together we are strong", said Radulescu.
The exercise was also attended by the only marine infantry unit in Romania subordinated to the FNR, the Marine Infantry Regiment (RIM) Heracleea from the town of Babadag, whose commander appreciated the inter-institutional collaboration during the exercise on the Sfantu Gheorghe branch.
"Basically, every year we have several exercises in which we collaborate with the American partners, with the French partners, with the Spanish ones, having joint exercises in general in the Danube Delta. With the Ministry of Internal Affairs and its entities, we also have annual exercises. With the institutions of the European Union that belong to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, we have not yet been engaged in joint exercises. (...) Things never turn out perfectly and you always have a future field to explore in terms of coordination and collaboration," said the RIM commander, Colonel Marius Gheorghescu.
Some people from the village on the banks of the Danube who heard the noises of the training exercise admitted that the noises of the planes they frequently hear amid the war in Ukraine create a state of panic and said that the military drills give them confidence.
"I grew up here, in Victoria, and there have always been drills in the area. For this reason, exercises do not scare us. On the contrary, it makes us happy, because this means that it does not catch us unprepared," Mariana Grosu said.
At the end of the exercise, Tulcea County Deputy Prefect Eugen Terente underlined the importance of military exercises.
"These exercises prove to people that everyone is here, that everyone is with them, and everyone should feel calmer," said Terente.
According to the General Emergency Management Inspectorate, between September 2023 and the end of February 2026, over 70 RO-ALERT messages were sent to the population of the counties of Constanta, Galati, Tulcea and Vrancea amid the war unleashed by Russia in Ukraine, with most of them, over 60, being intended for the population of Tulcea County.
RO-ALERT messages are sent to increase the safety of the population, but some people say that they have deactivated these messages that they receive on their mobile phone, due to anxiety.
During the last extreme alert message sent to the population, on March 26, ten people called the single emergency number 112, the highest number made public by the Tulcea authorities.
According to the Defence Ministry , Sea Shield is coordinated annually by the Command of the Vice Admiral Ioan Georgescu Naval Component and aims to increase the level of interoperability between the participating entities, in a joint multinational framework, with the participation of all categories of forces of the Romanian Armed Forces, as well as to optimise the effort of the entities in the defence, public order and national security system.
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