The 10th CMDR COE Anniversary
Date: (31-03-2025)
On 31 March 2025, the family of CMDR COE celebrates the 10th anniversary of the organisation. A gala event gathered together former and present members of the Centre to mark formally the birthday. Special guests of the event were H.E. Ambassadors of NATO States and Partners in the Republic of Bulgaria who greeted the celebration.
Special honours – a plaquette of the Bulgarian Defence Ministry and a certificate of appreciation – were bestowed upon Centre’s members by the Director of the CMDR COE on the occasion of the anniversary.
"Today, we are not just celebrating a Birthday; we’re commemorating a remarkable decade, marked by transformative achievements and sustained excellence. This is an opportunity to reflect on what’s been accomplished and to honour every individual who has contributed to shaping our Centre into what it is today - a headlight of expertise and innovation respected across continents. We are giving our thanks to our present and former members and partners for their support and dedication to the cause of developing the organisation. I am convinced that CMDR COE will continue to grow and develop successfully also in the next ten dozen years," said Colonel Nikolov, Director of the Centre.
In 2025, CMDR COE is celebrating a decade full of successes as seen in the numerous organised educational events, exercises, seminars, conferences, etc. as well as in the establishment of many strategic partnerships.
The Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR COE) is a multi-national NATO military body sponsored by the Hellenic Republic, Hungary, the Republic of Poland, Romania and the Republic of Bulgaria (Framework Nation). The Centre, located in Sofia, Bulgaria, currently has a 40-strong team of both civilian and military experts who continuously tackle a wide range of CMDR-related issues with the ultimate goal of supporting NATO’s standardisation and transformation.
The CMDR COE was found on August 28, 2013 and received accreditation on March 31, 2015 as the 21st NATO COE with an international status under Article 14 of the Paris Protocol. The Centre has granted a NATO Quality Assurance Accreditation Certificate for Unconditional Accreditation (No. ACT/JFD/HCEIT/TT+1548/Ser: NU) and all its certified courses are NATO-Approved as they meet the Alliance’s quality requirements.
CMDR COE provides tailor-made education and training in the scope of its expertise for senior military and civilian leaders. In such regard, the Centre has capabilities to dispatch in place mobile training teams and subject matter experts to facilitate trainings of national and multinational military and/or civilian unit, dealing with crisis management and disaster response. CMDR COE has established an Operation Laboratory and keep on developing both software and hardware standards in support to the planning and conduct of NATO's, Allies' and Partners' exercises and experimentations, including in the creation and validation of scenarios for disaster response. Basically, the using of mathematical models (modelling) to the accuracy and adequacy of the input data (for weather, terrain, obstacles, conditions, etc) provides visualizations of impacts of such events in virtual environment (simulations). The aim is to support the decision-making as well as the planning process and assessment of the emergency plans for reaction and response.
Over the years, the CMDR COE has earned international recognition not only as a centre of expertise in crisis management and disaster response but also as a hub for innovation, knowledge exchange, and best practices within the CMDR domain. Thus, the Centre has forged excellent partnerships and cooperation with key NATO and EU bodies, institutions, and agencies. Presently, the CMDR COE places emphasis on developing curriculum and critical thinking on disciplines as Crisis and Disaster management; Environmental risks; Climate change and Security; Building resilience through Preparedness; Building Integrity; Modelling & Simulation and AI Technical architecture for Decision Makers and Gender Focal Points. Additionally, the Sofia-based COE serves as platform for key NATO events, as well as for numerous CMDR-related conferences, workshops, and trainings.
News
Intensive CMDR Course Week From 14 to 18 October 2019 the CMDR Exercise Planners Training (CMDREPT) Course was conducted
» read more
Assembly of CMDR COE Governing BodyThe 7th meeting of CMDR COE Steering Committee (CMDR COE SC) was held in Sofia.
» read more
Cooperation ContinuesCollaboration Agreement has been signed between the War Studies University Warsaw and CMDR COE
» read more
MSG-147 Prepares Limited Object Experiment (LOE3)Preparation of the Limited Object Experiment (LOE 3) is in progress
» read more
CMDR COE Welcomes New Deputy DirectorFrom October 7, 2019, a new Deputy Director has commenced term of service in the Centre.
» read more
CMDR COE Assisted Balkan Bridges′2019 ExecutionApparent participation of CMDR COE in the biggest multinational CAX for 2019
» read more
Agreement for Cooperation SignedFormally collaboration with the Bulgarian Ministry of Interior
» read more
An Ambassador VisitAmbassador of the Republic of South Africa, H.E. Mr Thabo Thage paid a visit to the Centre
» read more
Successful Course On Resident NATO-Approved ItemCMDR COE conducted its resident Crisis Response Operations Planners Professional Development (CROPPD) Course.
» read more
Planning and Conducting Disaster Relief Operations Course at SEEBRIG HQCMDR COE Mobile Education and Training Team (METT) successfully conducted a Planning and Conducting Disaster Relief Operations Course at South-Eastern Europe Brigade (SEEBRIG) HQ
» read more
CMDR COE in Ekiden Relay Marathon Our team participated in the Sofia Ekiden Relay Marathon
» read more
Balkan Bridges`2019 is On TrackThe Final Technical Conference (FTC) of the exercise was hosted by CMDR COE
» read more
Joining Forces for Gender Mainstreaming - A Seminar in GeorgiaCMDR COE METT in David Aghmashenebeli National Defence Academy, Georgia
» read more
Strengthening Cooperation with Tennessee, USACMDR COE welcomed a visitor team from the Tennessee National Guard (TN NG)
» read more
Our Centre in the 2019 COE MarketplaceNATO HQ met represantatives of the 25 NATO-accredited Centres of Excelence (COEs), 15-16 July 2019 in Brussels
» read more
Quality Assurance Accreditation of CMDR COECMDR COE has earned Unconditional Accreditation and NATO Quality Assurance Certificate
» read more
Agreement Signed with Capacity Building International Institute, USACollaboration Framework Agreement was signed with the Capacity Building International Institute (Delaware, USA)
» read more
CMDR COE Concludes 7th Annual Interagency Interaction ConferenceThe Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence has concluded the 7th Annual Conference on Interagency Interaction in Crisis Management and Disaster Response on June 6, 2019 in Sofia, Bulgaria.
» read more
CMDR COE Conducts One More Advantageous Disaster Management CourseThe 2019 resident Disaster Management course was successfully conducted on the newly renovated CMDR COE premises on 13-17 May 2019, and parallel to the NATO Quality Assurance Process for the Centre.
» read more
HQ SACT Quality Assurance Experts Visit 15-16 May 2019HQ SACT Quality Assurance Team of Experts with a 2-day visit in Sofia as a part of the Quality Assurance accreditation process of the CMDR COE
» read more
High-level Visit of the Croatian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of DefenseMr. Damir Krstičević, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense of Croatia visited the CMDR COE on May 3, 2019.
» read more
One Day Round Table Discussion - SFA and FFAO Development “One Day Round Table Discussion”, over the development of the new editions of the NATO Strategic Foresight Analysis (SFA) and Framework for Future Alliance Operations (FFAO) Reports
» read more
CMDR COE conducted a resident Climate Change and Security CourseA productive and informative discussion on most pressing climate change challenges to security.
» read more
The CMDR COE Fourth Anniversary CMDR COE reception in the newly opened premises of the Centre
» read more
Resilience SMEs from CMDR COE Took Part in the Biggest CIMIC Exercise in 2019MNCG conducted its biggest exercise since its establishment - DORR`19 (18-22 March 2019)
Notable CMDR CourseNotable CMDR course this year - first time attended by participants from Afghanistan, Egypt, Pakistan, Tunisia and UAE
» read more
Call for Papers - 7th CMDR COE Annual ConferenceThe purpose is to promote ideas in a way that will advance the common understanding as well as gain points of view that might not have been otherwise considered.
» read more
CMDR COE conducted NATO Gender Focal Point (GFP) courseThe first NATO GFP course - the CMDR COE and the Nordic Centre for Gender in MIlitary Operations (NCGM) join forces for mainstreaming gender in a military context.
» read more
NATO Crisis Response System Course marked first 2019 CMDR COE educational eventBy conducting NATO Crisis Response System Course from 29 to 31 January 2019, Sofia, CMDR COE marked its first educational event for the year of 2019.
» read more
EADRCC Exercise "SRBIJA 2018" Lessons Identified ConferenceA post-exercise Lessons Identified Conference in regard of command-post and field exercise "SRBIJA 2018".
» read more
