A two-day national civil protection and crisis management exercise, called 'Shadows in the Clouds', began in eastern Slovakia on Wednesday, aimed to test the response of the state, emergency services and security forces to special emergency events, including a drone attack, a mass-casualty incident and an airspace violation.
Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok (Hlas-SD) declared in Michalovce (Košice region) on Wednesday afternoon that Slovakia had never previously held a field exercise of such scale and complexity, describing it as the largest exercise of its kind in the country's history.
"The aim of today's exercise was not only to establish whether individual services can respond to incidents, but to test how they can work together. We are looking at response times, how information flows, how decisions are made and whether those decisions can actually be implemented in practice," the minister explained.
According to Šutaj Eštok, Slovakia must respond to the changing security environment and be prepared for threats linked to sabotage, arson attacks and the misuse of drones. He referred to a recent case involving a planned arson attack on a manufacturing plant producing unmanned systems in Haniska, which security forces thwarted.
"We can no longer regard attacks against production facilities, warehouses and strategic sites merely as a hypothetical threat or a distant problem," Šutaj Eštok said. He also pointed to the war in Ukraine and cases of airspace violations in several NATO member states on the alliance's eastern flank.
'Shadows in the Clouds' will continue on Thursday, 3 September. The scenario is to include a simulated airspace violation, public warnings, and the sheltering and evacuation of pupils and clients of social services facilities. In addition, the exercise is going to include an administrative simulation of the declaration of a state of emergency.
The minister emphasised that no actual state of emergency will be declared and that residents' rights won't be restricted in any way.
The Interior Ministry also plans to launch an information campaign called '72 Hours' in the coming months, with an eye towards explaining to the public how to prepare for the first three days following a serious emergency.
Source: TASR
