The European Commission announced that the European Union's Civil Protection Mechanism has its 32nd member the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The Civil Protection Mechanism facilitates European cooperation in disaster response.

The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has become the 32nd member of the European Union's Civil Protection Mechanism. This Mechanism brings the country into a community of European nations which work together for better prevention, preparedness and response to disasters. One of the latest examples of using this mechanism has been the coordinated humanitarian aid to assist people affected by floods in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua in November 2011. The European Commission supports the Mechanism through its Monitoring and Information Centre.

Candidate countries can enjoy the benefits of full participation in the Mechanism even before joining the EU. The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has already benefitted from this cooperation in the summer of 2007, when it requested assistance through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism to cope with the outbreak of forest fires. From now on the country is also eligible to apply for EU financial support for transportation of assistance and to participate in EU training programmes and exercises. The Mechanism's Participating States benefit from the exchange of knowledge, best practices and flows of information when responding to major emergencies in Europe and elsewhere.

Since its creation in 2001, the Mechanism has coordinated the provision of assistance inside and outside the European Union, when activated. The European Civil Protection Mechanism facilitates cooperation in disaster response among 32 European states (EU-27 plus Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway). The participating countries pool the resources that can be made available to disaster-stricken countries all over the world.