Bulgaria 2025 Lessons Identified Conference: Turning Experience into Readiness
Date: (12-02-2026)
This conference was important because it moved the community from activity to improvement: from what happened in the field to what must change in procedures, coordination, and capabilities – so that the next real emergency finds us faster, sharper, and more interoperable.
A learning event built on a large, complex NATO exercise
BULGARIA 2025 was designed as a high-complexity, civilian-led emergency management exercise – one that trained a wide range of response disciplines while testing the seams between national systems and international support mechanisms. EADRCC exercises are among the world’s largest multinational emergency management activities, and BULGARIA 2025 specifically focused on strengthening resilience, preparedness, and civil-military cooperation.
Sofia as the “bridge” between field performance and strategic improvement
The Lessons Identified Conference held in Sofia captured operational realities and translated them into structured, shareable lessons.
The conference was also a planned milestone within the overall exercise cycle – explicitly included in NATO and exercise documentation as the mechanism to evaluate outcomes and determine next steps.
What we did: structured reflection across the full response spectrum
The conference design followed a practical rhythm to improve future planning processes.
After establishing a common baseline for discussion on Day 1, various working groups addressed the complexity of reality – from the planning phase, through logistics, operational elements, and multi-cell coordination structures, to cross-cutting topics. There was also a dedicated session on research, reinforcing that modern preparedness depends on evidence, data, and learning systems – not only tactics and hardware.
In his closing remarks, the CMDR COE Director, COL Orlin NIKOLOV, summarised the conference in the spirit in which it was conducted: “to turn experience into improvement.” He emphasised that the diversity of operational services, ministries, militaries, international organisations, and research communities was not decorative but essential to transforming complex experience into practical change.
He highlighted three key directions that emerged across the sessions:
Coordination structures matter most under pressure
“In a fast-moving, multi-actor response, clarity of roles, decision rhythms, and information flows can be as life-saving as any tool.”
Host Nation Support and cross-border facilitation are decisive enablers
“These are not merely ‘administrative’ issues; they are operational factors that determine how quickly teams arrive, how long they remain effective, and how safely they operate.”
Resilience and the information environment are inseparable from response
“Public communication, trust, and the ability to withstand malign narratives are integral to crisis management, not an add-on.”
Most importantly, COL Nikolov set a standard for what “success” actually means after a conference:
“Lessons that remain in conference notes do not improve readiness.”
He provided a concrete translation pathway, one that the community can align around immediately:
• Actionable recommendations, prioritised by impact and feasibility;
• Owners and timelines, so lessons become tasks;
• Sharing mechanisms, so improvements scale across Allies and partners.
CMDR COE’s role was stated plainly and practically: to support partners and stakeholders in converting insight into capability, and to remind that real success will be demonstrated in the face of the next crisis, when we will be prepared to act quickly, coordinate more effectively, and communicate more clearly.
The CMDR COE Director also expressed his sincere appreciation to everyone who planned, delivered, evaluated, and supported both the exercise and the conference, especially the EADRCC and the Fire Safety and Civil Protection Directorate. That recognition is well deserved – this was a major multinational endeavour, and Bulgaria’s role as host enabled a demanding training environment and an equally professional space for honest reflection afterwards.
A Lessons Identified Conference is not the finish line – it is the handover point between learning and implementation. Resilience is not built during the crisis – it is built together, before it.
News
A Mobile Training Team (MTT) has conducted a Crisis Management and Disaster Response Workshop 17-19 Feb 14, Larissa, GreeceA Mobile Training Team (MTT) consisted by lectures from the CMDR COE and National Defense Academy has conducted a Crisis Management and Disaster Response Workshop. It took place at the South-Eastern Europe Brigade (SEEBRIG) HQ in Greece from 17 to 19 February 2014. The MTT was led by col.Lyubomir Simeonov, Deputy Chief of National Defence Academy
The SEEBRIG was established and activated by seven participating Nations on 31st of August 1999 and is currently located in Larissa. The workshop goals were to provide educational information and details for the Crisis Management understanding and the NATO COEs Network covering the HQ staff area of interest by:
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Civil-Military Interaction: Disaster Preparation and Response Workshop has been opened and conductedA welcoming speech of the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, His Excellency Matthias Hoepfner has opened the Civil-Military Interaction: Disaster Preparation and Response Workshop, which is taking place in Sofia, 11-13 February 2014. The event is under the patronage of George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies and co-hosted with the Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR COE). The workshop is attended by representatives from civilian and military structures from 11 countries – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece , FYROM, Kosovo, Romania , Croatia, Montenegro and USA. In addition on the American side taking part are delegations from the National Guard of the states of Vermont, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey and Tennessee as part of the State Partnership Program.
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The Final Planning Conference of the exercise Saber Guardian 14 has finished successfullyThe Final Planning Conference of the exercise Saber Guardian 14 was held in Sofia last week (3-7 Feb 2014). The CMDR COE experts headed by LtC Orlin Nikolov, head of Capabilities Branch, participated in the workshops of the Contingency Management Planning/Unified Action (CPM/UA) syndicate.
On February 5, 2015, the CPM/UA members met with representatives of several GOs and NGOs. The meeting was arranged by the CMDR COE and co-hosted with the J9 USEUCOM as there were entities as Bulgarian Ministry of Interior, Chief Directorate Fire Safety and Civil Protection, State Agency of National Security, State Agency for Refugees, Bulgarian Academy of Science, Military Medical Academy, Red Cross, Caritas Bulgaria, Gender Research Foundation, Tennessee National Guard, Bulgarian Modeling and Simulation Association (BULSIM). The purpose of the meeting was to present them the scenario and storyline of their engagement into the exercise.
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The initial planning conference for the SEESIM 14 exercise was held in Zagreb, CroatiaThe initial planning conference for the distributed computer assisted exercise South Eastern Europe Simulation Network (SEESIM 14) was held in Zagreb, Croatia. The Republic of Bulgaria is co-organizer and participates actively in the conducting of the exercise together with the Host Nation. Among the participants are also representatives of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Montenegro, Romania, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, United States of America and the SEEBRIG.
The exercise is held under the auspices of the Ministers of Defence of the SEE Nations.
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CMDR COE FEBRUARY Forthcoming events- In 3-7 of February experts from the CMDR COE team will take part in the Final Planning Conference of the SABER GUARDIAN ′14 Exercise, organized by the US EUCOM and BGR LANDFORCE.
The purpose of the exercise is to train and educate civilian and military participants in planning and conducting an UN mandated Chapter VII Peace Operation/Crisis Response Operation, based on a Comprehensive Approach, and focusing on co-operation and co-ordination within an unstable environment, involving all stakeholders. The principal exercise focus is the civilian-military cooperation and coordination. The scenario supports exercising a wide range of peace operations functions (e.g. rule of law, humanitarian, etc.). The CMDR COE will contribute to achieving the exercise objectives by providing subject matter expert support in the CMDR area and by organizing distributed point for White cell.
- In 11-13 February 2014 the Civil-Military Interaction: Disaster Preparedness and Response Workshop will take place in Sofia. The workshop is sponsored by the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Bulgaria and the CMDR COE. The workshop comprises lectures dedicated to NATO and EU Crisis Management, role of military in civil security, risk management, as well as discussions and tabletop exercise.
Internal CMDR COE Seminar on the Crisis in SyriaThe CMDR COE organised an internal seminar which was held on 20.12.2013. The main focus of the seminar was the crisis in Syria. The CMDR COE experts discussed issued related to the chronology of the crisis; the increased influx of refugees to neighbouring countries and Bulgaria; the positions of NATO, the UN and EU; the involvement of international humanitarian organisations etc.
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Visualizing Implications of Climate Change on Military Activities and Relationships was conductedOn 11-12 December 2013, the Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR COE) co-hosted together with US European Command (USEUCOM) and the US embassy in Bulgaria the workshop Visualizing Implications of Climate Change on Military Activities and Relationships. The opening remarks were given by the Deputy Minister of Defence of Bulgaria, Mr. Ivan Ivanov, who welcomed the participants and underlined the importance of the topics that the workshop focused on.
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