The EU sends two Spanish firefighting planes to Portugal

July 10 () –

The European Commission has sent two Spanish firefighting planes to Portugal to fight the fires that affect the center of the country, according to reports from Brussels.

Portugal activated the EU Civil Protection Mechanism to request emergency aid and “in an immediate response” the European Commission has mobilized two Canadair aircraft from the rescEU fleet located in Spain. “The planes support the Portuguese emergency services in the affected regions,” the Commission explained in a statement.

The European Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarcic, stressed that this “rapid response” to the Portuguese petition “demonstrates the EU’s solidarity in the face of the forest fires in central Portugal”.

“Thanks to Spain for the rapid mobilization of two firefighting planes this morning through RescEU. We are with those affected and with the firefighters and emergency personnel. We are ready to give more help,” Lenarcic stressed.

The EU Civil Protection Mechanism is made up of all EU member countries and Iceland, Norway, Serbia, North Macedonia and Turkey also participate. Since it was created in 2001, it has served to attend to more than 600 requests for help from inside and outside the EU.