“As we have not yet reached, fortunately, and we hope and aim not to reach, a situation where we are unable to address a problem with our own means, we take very seriously this condition of last resort when it comes to seeking external and European help,” stated the Minister of Internal Administration at the press conference following today’s Council of Ministers.
Emphasizing that the “last resort dimension” of requesting European aid has always existed, Maria Lúcia Amaral argued that it is even more important now as “southern Europe is generally facing the same problem” of forest fires.
Today, the spokesperson for the European Commission, Anna-Kaisa Itkonen, reiterated that there are firefighting resources pre-positioned in southern Europe, notably in Portugal, and that European civil protection intervention depends on a request from the member state.
“We have helicopters and firefighters pre-positioned in France and neighboring countries, such as Portugal, ready to assist as soon as requests are made,” she stated.
During this fire season, the European Civil Protection Mechanism has already assisted in combating fires in Greece, Bulgaria, Cyprus, North Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Albania.
