Taiwan is teaming up with European volunteer groups to train more civilians for disasters, a sign both sides see preparedness as a security issue.

• A Taiwanese civic alliance founded by Wu Yi-nung signed a long-term deal with Samaritan International, a network of volunteer groups across more than 20 European countries.
• The plan is volunteer training and shared experience — social workers, paramedics, and search-and-rescue teams on both sides.
• The EU's top representative in Taipei called the tie-up vital, saying Taiwan is strong on natural disasters while Europe knows wildfires better.
• Taiwan's interior ministry set big targets: 800,000 trained volunteers, and 6 million people involved in civil defense overall.
• The push follows last year's Hualien disaster, when hundreds of thousands of Taiwanese turned out to help on their own.

Outlook: Expect more Taiwan-Europe civil defense exchanges as both sides treat disaster readiness and wartime resilience as the same problem.