During the past week, Greece, Spain, Bulgaria, Montenegro, and Albania requested assistance through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism to manage simultaneous forest fires across Europe.
Spain activated the Mechanism for the first time for forest fires, prompting the European Commission to deploy two rescEU planes from France.
Greece activated the Mechanism on August 12. Two Swedish rescEU helicopters from Bulgaria and firefighters from Czechia, Moldova, and Romania are assisting.
In Bulgaria, six countries including Czechia, Slovakia, France, Hungary, Romania, and Sweden mobilized aircraft via the Mechanism, utilizing rescEU helicopters from Sweden.
For Albania, the Commission deployed rescEU aerial assets from Croatia, Bulgaria, Italy, Czechia, and Slovakia.
In Montenegro, rescEU assets from Czechia, Croatia, and Italy were mobilized. Serbia, Hungary, and Bosnia and Herzegovina provided aircraft through bilateral offers, while Austria sent ground firefighting teams.
The EU Civil Protection Mechanism has been activated 16 times this fire season, matching the total activations for wildfires in 2024. The Copernicus service was also activated for fires in Greece, Spain, and Bulgaria.














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