Report from Delegates Assembly 2023 in Vienna

22 countries were physically attending Delegates Assembly today, and another five countries have joined the live stream.

The Delegates Assembly 2023 in Vienna was organized by the Austrian Fire Service Association, which hosts the Austrian National CTIF Committee. 

Here are links to CTIF Austria´s report about DA2023:

 Read the austrian article on dA 2023 

See the Austrian photo gallery from da 2023

In the gallery below, we are collecting photos from DA 2023 for your enjoyment!

The DA was addressed by the Robert Mayer, President of the Austrian Fire Association, followed by the traditional Minute of Silence for Fallen Comrades around the world. 

The CTIF President Milan Dubravac opened with his Presidential Report, followed by Roman Sykora´s General Secretary Report.  Then followed the Financial Report by the CTIF Treasurer Marc Mamer.

Milan Dubravac spoke primarily about the great work of putting together the CTIF Firefighters´Olympics in Celje 2022 and also about recent successes with communications and the website.

(More on these reports will follow)

Vice President Taina Hanhihoski (Finland) talked about various communications projects undertaken during the year: A

new liaison officer in the Executive Committee will be appointed to be responsible for making sure new member countries and associate member businesses feel welcomed and stay connected to CTIF.

She also talked about the new CTIF Welcome Package, which all members will receive from now on when they join. All delegates were given a printed copy of this during DA 2023. 

Then followed the activity report of vice president Ole Hansen (Norway), speaking about his work with Associate Members, increased communication between the EC and the National Committees, and also a cooperation project with Croatia (which we will do a special report on here on CTIF.org later this year.) He also spoke about the work about Firefighting at Airport Commission.  

Ole Hansen will speak later this afternoon with news about Delegates Assembly in Oslo, in June 2024. 

Vice President Christophe Marchal (France) spoke about his work with the Forest Fire Commission, the European Working Time Directive and more. 

Vice president Yvonne Näsman (Sweden) spoke about her work as the contact point with the

Commission for Extrication and New Technology (16 member countries & open for more members!) and all the very successful international projects this commission has accomplished in the 10 years it has existed since it was started by, among others, former CTIF President Tore Eriksson, (Sweden) and Tom Van Esbroeck (Belgium).  She stressed the importance of communication and the sharing of experiences and lessons learned. 

Then followed Czech vice president Zdenek Nytra´s activity report from his work in the Competition Commission, and the creation of a new Competitions Commission, where a wider concept of international firefighters competitions will be discussed and later arranged as a new form of firefighting games within CTIF. 

(More on these reports will follow) 

Then followed the signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding with the South American fire fighting organization Bomberos Americanos, who will enter into an agreement of cooperation with CTIF as of 2023 - 24.

After the break followed the presentations of the candidates for new vice presidents in the Executive Committee.

The number of Vice Presidents in the EC will be raised from 7 to 8, as of the vote being held right after the break. 

Four new vps will replace Ole Hansen (Norway) and  Zdenek Nytra (Czech Republic) who have both done their maximum allowed two 4 year terms in the Executive Committee, plus also László Bérczi (Hungary) who had to unfortunately end his term as vice president early.

The four new Vice Presidents in the CTIF EC  are:

Otto Drozd, USA

Luc Faes, Belgium

Martin Nekula, Czech Republic

Nedeljko Yukalovic, Croatia

This section of the DA was also addressing the re-election of General Secretary Roman Sykora who has now completed his first four year term on the EC.  

Each candidate spoke for five minutes each about the areas most close to their hearts, and gave information about their background and career within the fire service.

We will return with closer presentations of these new vice presidents and the topics they introduced during DA 2023.

After the voting for candidates, the chair of the History Commission, Mr Gerald Schimpf, presented the suggestions for additions to the CTIF Statutes regarding CTIF Decorations. The Commission has developed an elaborate set of guidelines for medals within CTIF.

The Delegates Assembly then proceeded to vote on the new Declarations Statutes presented by Gerald Schimpf and developed by the CTIF History Commission.

Zdenek Nytra (Czech Republic) then held a presentation about his suggestion for a new Competitions Commission. The DA voted for this new commission. CTIF.org will report more on this topic later.

After lunch the Seminar portion of the Delegates Assembly proceeded. We will return in coming days with a report from those presentations. 

Delegates arriving for DA 2023 in Vienna City Hall.

Wednesday, the CTIF Executive Committee held their first physical meeting of the year in beautiful Vienna City Hall.

Photo Gallery from DA 2023 in Vienna: