The European Union (EU) has mobilized significant resources since Monday to help combat fires in Greece, Sweden and Latvia at the same time and put it on a civil protection mechanism.
About 60 firefighters, along with their equipment, left Cyprus on Tuesday for Greece, where more than 50 persons have already died as a result of the fires, while Spain is sending two Canadair planes, the office of Commissioner Christos Stylianides, in charge of humanitarian assistance and crisis management, disclosed on Tuesday. Many other EU countries have proposed resources, it added.
Spain is also involved in Sweden, where the EU is coordinating the biggest operation carried out by the European Civil Protection Mechanism.
Various member States – Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Lithuania, Denmark, Poland and Austria – have answered an appeal for help from Stockholm and sent 7 Canadair planes, 7 helicopters and 340 firefighters with 60 vehicles.
The fires are also affecting Latvia, which receives assistance from the Copernicus European satellite, the European Commission stated.
