EARLY WARNING SYSTEM - COUNTDOWN TO ACTIVATION IN JUNE - REGION-SPECIFIC MESSAGES FOR WAR, TERRORISM AND NATURAL DISASTERS - Filenews 7/3 by Angelos Nikolaou
The long-awaited Public Warning System (PWS) is expected to be fully implemented next June, putting an end to a long period of delays caused by repeated objections and cancellations of tenders.
The new early warning system will allow instant notifications to be sent to the mobile phones of citizens located in affected areas, providing self-protection instructions in seconds.
In the event of a disaster emergency, such as fire, earthquake, hostilities, etc., the new system will detect the signal of all mobile phones located in the affected area.
The Civil Defense will send a signal to the mobile operators, which will be transmitted by all mobile antennas located in the affected area. The message will not be the usual sms, but will be sent en masse and will automatically appear on all mobile phones, with a loud alarm sound, even if it is silent, providing instructions for leaving the area or instructions with self-protection measures.
To receive the notification, you will not need an active internet connection, nor an installed mobile application, or registration on a platform.
Therefore, all messages will be sent by the Civil Defense, which will be informed by the respective competent authority. In the event of war, the National Guard will inform about a terrorist attack, the Department of Forests and the Fire Brigade will inform about fires and an earthquake by the Department of Geological Survey.
The Ministry of the Interior clarifies the landscape around the project, stressing that any difficulties are a thing of the past and that the timetable for the summer of 2026 remains completely feasible. "The goal set from the beginning for implementation next June is feasible and will be implemented," Ministry sources said.
The background of the case
The project, which is considered vital for informing the population in cases of emergency, went through a setback. The first open tender for the project was announced in 2022 and ended in cancellation in May 2024 following appeals submitted to the Tender Review Authority due to a poor composition of the Evaluation Committee.
This was followed by communication from the Civil Defense with the Legal Service to investigate whether the project could be characterized as a security and defense issue that concerns the essential security interests of the Republic and for which a different and shorter tender procedure is foreseen. The Legal Service responded negatively, since in the first announcement the project had not been considered as such and could not be changed.
Therefore, and in order to avoid new appeals that would again cause a delay in the completion of the process and to shield the implementation of the project, the Ministry of Interior invited an expert from abroad and, with his suggestions, proceeded to amend and redesign the tender documents. The result was the new announcement of the project in December 2024, with a deadline for the submission of tenders at the end of February 2025. The technical evaluation of the tenders that followed was completed in mid-July 2025, while the appeals period provided for in the tender procedure expired on August 3, 2025, without there being any objections to the Tender Review Authority, which would cancel the tender again.
After the deadlines for objections expired, the contract for the implementation of the project was signed at the end of September 2025, definitively awarding the project and the timetable for its completion and delivery was set for the first half of 2026.
Despite the smooth development after the award, a number of technical issues arose with the telecommunications providers, which raised concerns about possible further delays. However, as the Minister of the Interior assured in his recent public statements, the project is being implemented within the schedules. "There was a problem with the providers, which I think we have resolved. So the implementation goal next June, which was set from the beginning, is feasible and will be implemented," said Mr. Ioannou.
The implementation of the PWS is an additional measure to inform citizens in emergency situations, in addition to the existing information tools. The project is part of the wider reorganization of the Civil Protection sector, which the Government has put at the top of its agenda and is implementing as early as 2024.
