The European Commission announced on Monday that hundreds of firefighters and over 20 firefighting aircraft will be pre-positioned this summer in high-risk wildfire zones across the European Union, reports Rks News.
Approximately 650 firefighters from 14 member states will be deployed during July and August to France, Greece, Portugal, and Spain—the countries considered most vulnerable to wildfire threats. This marks the largest deployment since the EU began pre-positioning firefighting teams in 2022.
Greece will host around half of these teams, which will come from Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, France, Moldova, and Romania.
The EU-supported summer firefighting fleet will be coordinated and funded through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. France and Greece will each benefit from four medium amphibious firefighting planes, while France will also have a helicopter at its disposal.
Meanwhile, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Italy, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, and Sweden will also be part of the support framework and benefit from this enhanced firefighting fleet.
According to data from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), over 166,000 hectares have burned across the 27 EU member states since the start of 2024—nearly triple the average for the same period between 2003 and 2024.
