Firefighters from Bulgaria, Malta, Moldova and Romania will join summer firefighters in Greece as part of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism's (EUCPM) pre-positioning programme. In its third year, this initiative aims to enhance collaborative firefighting efforts across Europe.
The Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection announced that 240 European firefighters, equipped with forest fire vehicles, will be stationed from early July to mid-September at three key locations: Attica, Thessaloniki and Achaia prefecture.
The first contingent from Bulgaria has already arrived in Thessaloniki at the base of the 2nd Special Forestry Operations Unit. They will be followed on July 15 by teams from Malta stationed in Achaia, and those of Moldova stationed in Attica.
This year’s pre-positioning program involves 12 countries: Austria, Bulgaria, Estonia (participating for the first time), Finland, Greece, Italy (also for the first time), Latvia, Malta, Moldova (for the first time), Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia (for the first time). These countries will collectively deploy 556 firefighters to Greece, France, Spain and Portugal, with the dual goals of combating forest fires and exchanging expertise.
As part of the program, Greece already deployed a team of 25 members from the Special Forestry Operations Units that were posted in Southern France on June 15-30.