BRUSSELS — The European Union has announced that its Civil Protection Mechanism continues to channel support to help combat unprecedented forest fires in Greece and the rest of the Mediterranean.

Following requests from Greece, North Macedonia, Albania, Italy and Turkey, the European Union has now helped mobilize 14 firefighting planes, 3 helicopters, some 1,300 rescuers and 250 vehicles, noted an EU press release late Sunday.

In Greece alone, 9 planes, close to 1,000 fire fighters and 200 vehicles are currently being deployed. This comes in addition to help already deployed last week to help fight forest fires in Italy, Albania and North Macedonia.

EU Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic said: "We are mobilizing one of Europe's biggest ever common firefighting operations as multiple fires affect several countries simultaneously."

"This shows the need to prioritize crisis response also at European level. The EU stands in full solidarity with Greece, North Macedonia, Albania, Italy and Turkey, at this difficult time," he said.

The European Union's 24/7 Emergency Response Coordination Centre is in regular contact with the relevant national authorities to closely monitor the situation and channel the EU assistance.

As forest fires continue affecting various regions in the Mediterranean and the Western Balkans, the European Commission is swiftly mobilizing support to assist countries in limiting the spread of the fires and protect lives and livelihoods.

Lenarcic said: "We are working around the clock to send help as fires rage across Europe. I thank Cyprus, Czechia, France, Slovenia and the Netherlands for swiftly deploying firefighting airplanes, helicopters and a team of firefighters to support countries heavily affected by forest fires.

“At this time as several Mediterranean countries are facing fires, EU Civil Protection makes sure that our firefighting tools in place are used at maximum capacity. This is an excellent example of EU solidarity in times of need.”

These deployments come in addition to EU-coordinated firefighting operations that are currently ongoing in Turkey, as well as in Sardinia, Italy, at the end of July. Satellite maps from the EU's Copernicus Emergency Management satellite are providing further support to the emergency services to coordinate the operations. — Agencies