European cooperation against wildfire
40 Romanian fire-fighters and 8 pieces of equipment left on Tuesday evening for Greece, which is faced with a number of wildfires.
Corina Cristea, 31.07.2024, 14:00
A consequence of the high temperatures recorded this summer, wildfires are wreaking havoc across several European countries. Like in previous years, Greece is the worst hit, with dozens of fires on its hands. Similar situations seen in the last three years have resulted in the destruction of large sections of the forested area around Athens and on the islands of Euboea and Rhodes. At the time, the fires were effectively dealt with thanks to support from many European states, including Romania. This is also the case right now, thanks to a EU-funded assistance programme intended as a support measure for the Greek authorities following the devastating fires in the past years. This is part of Brussels’ new policy to limit forest fires in the south of Europe, with fire fighting units being dispatched to Greece from Bulgaria, Malta, the Republic of Moldova and Romania.
Under the programme, 40 Romanian fire-fighters and 8 pieces of equipment left on Tuesday on a pre-positioning mission in Greece. The mission will last until 15th September and the aim of the programme is to reduce response time in the event of forest fires, achieve a more effective preparation of intervention units from member states and improve interoperability between the participating forces. The head of Romania’s Department for Emergency Situations Raed Arafat told fire-fighters that although they are leaving on a support mission, the situation in Greece is difficult and that they will most likely take part in interventions on the ground.
Interior minister Cătălin Predoiu praised the professionalism of the fire-fighting service and the current structure of the emergency intervention system:
“You have demonstrated your ability to save lives and to protect communities, both in Romania and abroad. This expertise was not achieved randomly, but because a number of years ago, Romania managed to create an emergency intervention system for civilian protection, a coherent, integrated system that brings together different professions and specialisations. This system is integrated with the Mobile Emergency Service for Reanimation and Extrication, the emergency healthcare service, paramedics, the police, the gendarmerie, the mountain rescue service and other institutions, as part of a mechanism that has demonstrated its effectiveness in the last ten years”.
On 29th July, a group of 20 fire-fighters from the Republic of Moldova also left for Greece to replace their colleagues who ended a mission begun in the early days of the month. On the same day, a fire on the Bulgarian-Greek border expanded, entering Bulgarian territory in two places, and two French planes joined in the efforts to extinguish it. Also, at the request of their French counterparts, Romanian fire-fighters recently contributed to putting out a wildfire in the south of France, in a busy tourist region and home to many camping sites.
