In response to Greece’s request for assistance from the Union Civil Protection Mechanism on Tuesday 18 July, the European Union is lending a helping hand to this Member State, as dozens of wildfires continue to spread across Greece.
Four Canadair firefighting planes - two French and two Italian - from the EU fleet began operations on Wednesday 19 July, according to the European Commission.
Three fire-fighting teams donated by Poland, Romania and Slovakia - totalling 220 firefighters and 65 vehicles - were also being deployed.
Three ground firefighting teams from Romania, Bulgaria and Malta - who had been pre-deployed - are already operating in Greece as part of the EU civil protection’s forest fire season preparedness plan.
The European Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, thanked these countries for their solidarity. “However, it is important to continue to invest in prevention and to enhance the wildfire risk awareness of the population”, he added in a press release.
The EU also provided satellite maps from the Copernicus programme to help assess the damage in several areas of the Attica region. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)