Press Release: EU countries assist Greece in fighting forest fires

The EU increased its assistance to Greece in fighting major forest fires over the weekend. Several fires were raging in the immediate vicinity of Athens, threatening residential areas. To reinforce the Greek fire-fighting efforts, other EU countries provided aircraft via the European Civil Protection Mechanism. In addition to the assistance provided by member states, an EU reserve of fire-fighting aircraft was dispatched on 22 August, 2009, and will continue to provide assistance to Greece. The European reserve can be used to help national forces overwhelmed by forest fires. This is the fifth time this summer that the EU reserve has been deployed.

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