Ambassador in Bocholt as a guest
Cross-border civil protection projects were presented at the fire station
Bocholt was delighted to welcome two ambassadors who stopped by as part of a trip through the local border region. Cyrill Nunn, German ambassador to the Netherlands, and his counterpart Ronald van Roeden, who represents the Netherlands in Berlin, visited the Bocholt fire station to find out about the cooperation and safety structures between German and Dutch fire services. They also discussed the planned fire station in Suderwick-Dinxperlo.
They were accompanied by District Administrator Dr Kai Zwicker and Consul General Peter Schuurmann, among others.
After welcoming all those present by Bocholt's mayor Thomas Kerkhoff, Thomas Deckers from the Bocholt fire brigade presented the "CrossFire" project, the planning of which is now so far advanced that "after completion of the joint spatial planning - with different legal requirements in the two border countries - the search for land can now begin". According to Deckers, the issue of training is also being addressed "strategically, as the concepts of both countries need to be merged."
A joint rescue service is already being implemented so that emergency care can be provided on the other side of the border in the nearest hospital without having to overcome bureaucratic hurdles or travelling to domestic hospitals, sometimes further away - which costs valuable time in cases of doubt.
The Dutch delegation expressed the essence of the presentations with the motto "Ambitie is durven doen waar je goed in bent" ("Ambition is daring to do what you are good at"). Ger Beernink, project manager of the German-Dutch Euregio association of local authorities, presented the "Prepare" project and spoke about the European community in the border region. Mayor Thomas Kerkhoff also focussed on the European idea, for which Bocholt has already received several awards.
Before visiting the fire station, the delegation took the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the cross-border StadtBus line C11 between Aalten-Bocholt on a regular service. StadtBus Managing Director Jens Dörpinghaus explained the history and advantages of the second cross-border StadtBus line during the journey on the only fully electric StadtBus to date.
Following the visit to Bocholt, the delegation continued its three-day journey to Enschede.