Brussels, 31/08/2011 (Agence Europe) - European solidarity continues to assist Albania in fighting forest fires in the north-east of the country. Italy responded to the request made by the European Union's Civil Protection Mechanism by making two CL415 water-bombing aircraft available, the European Commission announced on 31 August. Tirana's appeal for reinforcements on 29 August completes the initial request for assistance submitted by the Albanian authorities on 25 August. Italy had already placed a CL415 at their disposal (see EUROPE 10439).
The following day, Italy offered its assistance via the European Commission's Monitoring and Information Centre (MIC), which coordinates offers and ensures that means are adequate to meet needs, to the great satisfaction of Kristalina Georgieva, European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, who says in a press release: “I would like to personally thank Italy for its prompt and effective engagement at a moment when Albania was struggling to cope with raging forest fires”. On 30 August, the two Italian aircraft operating in the Mat and Diber regions had performed seven missions and conducted 24 water drops, the Commission points out.
Very high temperatures and strong winds were the cause of the 50 or so forest fires that broke out, making additional support a necessity. (A.N./transl.jl)