Scoping aircraft sent to Bulgaria and North Macedonia
Several large forest fires are raging in southern Europe, including heavy fires along the mountain range along the Greek-Bulgarian border and in northern Macedonia. Now, Sweden, through MSB, is sending four scooping aircraft to assist in the firefighting efforts.
Two aircraft left Sweden on Wednesday afternoon for Bulgaria and on Thursday two more aircraft will take off for North Macedonia. The flights are made in several stages down through Europe.
– Right now, Bulgaria and North Macedonia need support from other countries and it is natural for us to help when we can. We have done so in the past and we have also received support ourselves, this is the basic idea of EU civil protection cooperation, says Jenny Wärja, Head of Unit at MSB.
Continued good preparedness in Sweden
Sweden's preparedness to deal with forest fires is primarily managed by local rescue services, which can request additional support through the remaining airborne resources consisting of up to ten helicopters if needed.
– When we make the assessment to send planes, it is important that we maintain good preparedness in Sweden. We continuously monitor the fire risk situation in Sweden and right now it is considered low. We have flying resources to use if needed and in this case we have ensured it by, despite the low risks, also having two helicopters on extra alert, says Jenny Wärja at MSB and continues:
– The strength of EU cooperation is that we use our resources effectively and cooperate and help each other. Sweden is part of the EU's preparedness, just as the EU is part of Sweden's.
Facts - what Sweden and MSB are doing to help
MSB is the contact point for the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. This means that we both receive requests and offer assistance in various crises and disasters to affected countries and, if necessary, mediate support from other countries to Sweden.
The scooping aircraft are part of an additional safety net in the form of an EU common resource called rescEU. The EU finances most of the cost and Sweden hosts the resource.
Sweden has been part of rescEU since 2019 and this is the sixth time flying resources from Sweden are activated in Europe. The first time was in 2021 during the extinguishing of the large forest fires that raged in Greece during the summer. In the summer of 2022, Sweden supported both France and the Czech Republic with sweeping aircraft during large-scale fires. Last year, at the end of August 2023, Greece was again hit by large-scale forest fires and was supported by Sweden in the firefighting effort.
