At today’s correspondence session the Government of the Republic of Slovenia adopted the decision, in response to the Republic of Albania’s request via the EU civil protection mechanism, to nominate two experts to the EU’s expert civil protection team to help coordinate international assistance in the aftermath of the earthquake. Their mission is expected to last for 10 days.

On the morning of 26 November 2019, the Republic of Albania was struck by a 6.4 magnitude earthquake centred on Durrës County. The epicentre of the earthquake was approximately 30 km west of the capital Tirana, between the coastal towns of Durrës and Thumanë. This is also the worst affected part of the country, with more than 20 dead and over 600 injured, according to the latest figures, and reports of numerous buildings destroyed.

On 26 November 2019 the Albanian authorities contacted the Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC), part of the EU civil protection mechanism, in order to request international assistance from neighbouring countries in the form of three rescue units to search for survivors under the ruins. Assistance in the form of rescue units has already been confirmed by Greece, Italy and Romania.

The Albanian authorities also requested the help of an EU expert civil protection team to coordinate international assistance. The team is expected to comprise seven members of different profiles. The task of the expert team will be to help the Albanian authorities assess the situation, receive international assistance and assess the state of damage to buildings.

The Ministry of Defence will continue to monitor the situation in Albania in the aftermath of the earthquake and will propose additional assistance if necessary.