Brussels (The Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The European Commission is deploying emergency aid to Greece and Albania for extreme wildfires, utilizing resources from multiple countries and enhancing the EU’s firefighting capabilities for this season.
How Is the European Commission Responding to the Wildfires in Greece and Albania?
The European Commission is mobilising emergency aid to Greece and Albania, both of which have triggered the EU Civil Protection Mechanism in response to extreme wildfires. The European Commission’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) has instantly mobilised both aerial and ground firefighting resources from several European countries that are domain of the Civil Protection Mechanism to assist Greece.
What Resources Has the EU Mobilized for Firefighting Efforts?
This support contains two rescEU firefighting planes from Italy, a rescEU helicopter from France and a helicopter delivered by Serbia. Additionally, ground firefighting crews are deployed from Czechia, France, Italy, Serbia and Romania, while Romanian, Maltese and Moldovan firefighters, already prepositioned in Greece, were among the first responders fighting the fires in Greece.
The aid for Albania includes one multipurpose military aircraft from Romania with a capacity of 6 tons of water. The plane will be deployed on 14 August. The European Commission is closely watching the situation and stands ready to deploy further assistance as needed.
What Improvements Have Been Made to the EU’s Emergency Firefighting Resources?
As part of its preparedness efforts for this year’s fire season, the EU has improved its rescEU and European Civil Protection Pool, which now contains 28 aeroplanes and 4 helicopters stationed across 10 Member States. Additionally, during the wildfires season over 540 firefighters from 12 countries are prepositioned in critical locations across Europe, ready to assist local fire brigades when necessary.
Wildfires spread by strong winds raged in territories of Greece and the Balkans, burning forests and homes while causing the evacuation of a resort town in Albania, local authorities expressed. The region has witnessed above-average temperatures and dry conditions over the past month that have formed ideal conditions for wildfires, scientists state. Flames engulfed pine trees covering a hotel complex in the Albanian coastal village of Shengjin, where authorities evacuated residents.
