02/12/2019 (Agence Europe) – In solidarity with Albania, devastated by a powerful earthquake that killed 51 people, the new European Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, will visit the country on Wednesday 4 December “to assess the most urgent needs”. The EU is coordinating international humanitarian aid efforts with the United Nations in response to this disaster. At the request of the Albanian authorities, the EU Civil Protection Mechanism was activated on 26 November and three search and rescue teams (more than 200 staff) had been immediately deployed. Six satellite maps of the devastated areas had already been provided by Copernicus and a civil protection team had been dispatched by the EU Emergency Response Coordination Centre to assess the damage. On Friday 29 November, the effort had intensified with the sending of equipment and engineers. (AN)