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EU mobilises firefighting aid to Greece, Sweden and Latvia
BRUSSELS, July 24, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – The European Union stepped up efforts
Tuesday to mobilise and coordinate the dispatch of firefighters and equipment
from its member countries to fight fires raging in Greece, Sweden and Latvia.
Some 60 firefighters and equipment left Cyprus on Tuesday for Greece,
where more than 50 people have died in the fires, according to officials from
the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm.
Spain planned meanwhile to send two water-bomber Canadair planes to
Greece, they added.
“Everything possible will be done to provide support today, tomorrow and
for as long as it takes,” European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker
said in a statement.
EU countries Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Lithuania, Denmark,
Poland and Austria have also responded to calls for help from Sweden, which
was battling 21 active fires nationwide.
So far they have sent 340 firefighters, 60 vehicles, seven Canadair planes
and seven helicopters.
Fires have also hit Latvia, which is receiving assistance from the
European satellite Copernicus, the commission said.
The eruption of fires across such a large swathe of Europe, from the far
north to the southeast, is prompting appeals for the adoption of a 2017
commission proposal to establish an EU-wide disaster force.
But a European source told AFP the plan is blocked by a number of member
states.
Under a system in place since 2001, Brussels coordinates volunteer aid
contributions from member countries when it receives an emergency call from a
country in need.
The commission proposed an EU protection force endowed with its own
resources following the deaths of nearly 200 people in fires last year in
Portugal, Italy, Spain and France.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1918 hrs