During the comprehensive national defence exercise "Namejs 2026", held from 6 to 8 October, the Crisis Management Centre (CMC) led the participation of state administration and municipal representatives in an exercise scenario designed to test civil-military cooperation procedures, interinstitutional cooperation at both national and municipal level, the business continuity of critical sectors during crises, and the coordination of support required for national defence purposes.
More than 1200 participants from the civilian sector took part in the exercise, including representatives of the State Chancellery, ministries, government services, agencies and state-owned enterprises, as well as representatives of municipal civil protection commissions, municipal services, agencies and enterprises. This year, representatives of non-governmental organisations also participated in the work of some thematic groups and municipal civil protection commissions. The exercise provided an opportunity to assess how institutions from different sectors and levels of government coordinate information, align actions and develop a common understanding of the situation to support timely decision-making.
The exercise scenario included the simulation of the evacuation of residents from several municipalities across Latvia, as well as responses to incidents disrupting public order, energy security, cybersecurity and the information environment, including the spread of disinformation.
Attention was paid to accommodating evacuated persons and ensuring their basic needs were met. The successful implementation of such tasks requires cooperation across multiple sectors and levels of government, ranging from organising evacuations and transporting people to safety to providing suitable accommodation, food, water and other essential services. The exercise enabled participating institutions to practically test their ability to coordinate these tasks under crisis conditions.
Arvis Zīle, Head of the Crisis Management Centre, said: “Exercises of this kind are an important step in practically testing the national crisis management system. They allow us to assess not only the preparedness of individual institutions to perform their functions, but also their ability to work together towards a common objective. We will use the lessons learned to further improve interinstitutional coordination mechanisms in cooperation with the institutions involved and strengthen the state's capacity to manage complex crises.”
A total of 12 thematic working groups operated within the civilian component of the exercise, including the Mass Population Movement (Evacuation) Coordination Group, the Food and Water Supply Group, the Health and Pharmaceuticals Group, the Financial Services Group, the Communications Coordination Group, and others.
Observers from the Baltic states, Finland, Sweden and NATO also attended the exercise.
This was the first time that the Crisis Management Centre had been involved in planning and conducting an exercise of this scale. The experience gained will serve as a foundation for further strengthening national resilience and the crisis management system in cooperation with other participating institutions. The lessons learned during this year's exercise will also contribute to the development of proposals for next year's exercise scenarios and other specialised civil protection exercises, supporting the continued improvement of crisis management mechanisms across state and municipal institutions.