The European Union has activated its civil protection mechanism in response to serious wildfires in North Macedonia and Bulgaria, which have requested urgent assistance, the European Commission announced on Tuesday 16 July. The civil protection mechanism was triggered for the first time this year in Cyprus at the beginning of June (see EUROPE 13430/23).
Six aircraft have been made available to North Macedonia and three to Bulgaria. For the first, North Macedonia is receiving one helicopter from Serbia, two helicopters from Slovenia, two planes and one helicopter from Turkey and a plane from the rescEU fire-fighting fleet from Croatia. Bulgaria is also receiving two helicopters from the Czech Republic, one of them from the EU fire-fighting fleet.
The Commission, which plays a coordinating role in the response to disasters, remains “ready to provide additional support if needed”, assured the Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič.
This summer, the EU has deployed a fleet of 32 aerial fire-fighting resources and 556 fire-fighters. (Original version in French by Florent Servia)