After Sweden, it is now Greece and Latvia that have fallen prey to huge forest fires. Lives have been lost in the Athens region. Calls have been made on European solidarity.
On Tuesday 24 July, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker held talks with Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos and wrote to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to express his sincere condolences to the families and friends of the victims. On the same day, European Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Commissioner Christos Stylianides was due to fly to Athens to coordinate the European aid that is already on its way.
Firefighters, medicines and vehicles have been made available by Cyprus, Spain and Portugal through the EU civil protection mechanism, triggered after a request for assistance by the Greek authorities to the Commission.
In Latvia, the EU’s Copernicus satellite system has been activated to assist the national authorities with emergency mapping of the risk areas.
The forest fires in Greece have claimed some 50 lives and more than 150 people have been injured. The Commission’s emergency response coordination centre, working 24/7, is closely monitoring the situation in the three countries. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)