EU deploys firefighting aircraft to Albania and Greece
The aircraft include a Romanian military plane sent to Albania
The European Union’s (EU’s) Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) has mobilized both aerial and ground firefighting assets to respond to severe wildfires in Albania and Greece, in line with the provisions of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.
For Greece, this includes two rescEU firefighting planes from Italy, and two helicopters from France and Serbia, as well as ground-based firefighters from Czechia, France, Italy, Serbia and Romania.
The new assets join existing Romanian, Maltese, and Moldovan firefighters who were already pre-positioned in the country.
Support for Albania includes one multipurpose military plane from Romania deployed on 14 August. That aircraft has capacity for six tons of water.
The EU stated that it is “closely monitoring the situation and stands ready to deploy further assistance if needed”.
The bloc announced the purchase of 12 new Canadair aircraft on behalf of its member states in November last year.
Oliver Cuenca
Oliver Cuenca is a Junior Editor at AirMed&Rescue. He was previously a News and Features Journalist for the rail magazine IRJ until 2021, and studied MA Magazine Journalism at Cardiff University. His favourite helicopter is the AW169 – the workhorse of the UK air ambulance sector! He also led the creation of Waypoint: The AirMed&Rescue podcast, serving as its Production Editor and co-host.