Brussels, 01/08/2007 (Agence Europe) - The forest fires still raging in southern and south-eastern Europe have led to further requests for assistance. The Community Monitoring and Information Centre (MIC) coordinates the resources of available national civil protection systems.
According to the latest operations report, published by the Commission on 31 July, several countries (Slovenia, Norway, Denmark, Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany, Austria and Sweden) responded to the request for assistance made on 24 July by the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYRM) to combat 22 fires, coordinated by the MIC. The FYRM also received bilateral assistance from Croatia, Slovenia and Turkey. At the same time, the MIC came to the assistance of Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus and Italy.
In a press release of 31 July, European Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said, “This gesture of solidarity to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia comes at a time when Europe's southern frontiers are burning, using up all of the resources we have available”.
While the situation may have improved in south-eastern Europe, things have got worse in Spain (Canary Islands) and Portugal. However, as of 31 July, no request for assistance had been made. (an)