Following a request for assistance from Albania through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, Greece has sent 4 planes to help fight wildfires in the Dropull municipality.
Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, said: “Wildfires know no borders. The EU has mobilised firefighting airplanes from Greece to support the local first responders in Albania in their fight against the wildfires. We stand ready to further support Albania if needed.”
The situation on the ground has shown signs of improvement over the night, but the EU’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre continues to closely monitoring the situation in case further support is needed.
The Commission has put together a fleet of aircraft and pre-positioned firefighters this summer across Europe. 556 firefighters from 12 countries are strategically prepositioned across key locations in Europe this summer, such as France, Greece, Portugal, and Spain, ready to help local fire brigades. The EU has assembled a dedicated rescEU fleet of firefighting aircraft for this summer, consisting of 28 airplanes and 4 helicopters stationed in 10 Member States.
