EU deploys assistance to combat wildfires in Greece and Albania

The European Commission has announced it is to mobilize emergency support to Greece and Albania, both of which have activated the EU Civil Protection Mechanism in response to severe wildfires.

In a briefing in Brussels, spokesperson Balazs Ujvari said the Commission’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) has immediately mobilized both aerial and ground firefighting resources from several European countries that are part of the Civil Protection Mechanism to assist Greece.

This support includes two rescEU firefighting planes from Italy, a rescEU helicopter from France and a helicopter offered by Serbia.

He said that in addition ground firefighting teams are being deployed from the Czech Republic, France, Italy, Serbia and Romania, pointing out that Romanian, Maltese and Moldovan firefighters, already positioned in Greece, were among the first responders battling the fires in Greece.

The support for Albania includes one multipurpose military plane from Romania with a capacity of six tons of water. The plane will be deployed on 14 August.

The Commission is closely monitoring the situation and stands ready to deploy further assistance as needed, he said.

As part of its preparedness measures for this year’s fire season, the EU has enhanced its rescEU and European Civil Protection Pool, which now includes 28 airplanes and 4 helicopters stationed across 10 member states.

Additionally, during the wildfires season over 540 firefighters from 12 countries are prepositioned in key locations across Europe, ready to assist local fire brigades when necessary.

At the briefing, the Commission also announced that the production of 12 amphibious firefighting planes to make up the permanent rescEU fleet has been launched following agreements signed by a number of EU Member States with the Canadian Commercial Corporation.

The planes will be financed by the European Commission and will become the new backbone of the EU’s crisis response to tackle forest fires. Aircraft from the rescEU reserves can be rapidly deployed in case a country is facing severe wildfires that require additional support.

This is in line with the EU’s long-term strategy to establish a permanent rescEU firefighting fleet hosted by Croatia, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain.

Ten additional firefighting planes are being purchased by member states directly to reinforce their national fleets.