The European Union (EU) will buy 10 planes and three helicopters to fight forest fires, doubling their capacity, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced on Wednesday in Strasbourg.
“The Union will buy 10 light amphibious aircraft and three new helicopters to incorporate into our fleet,” announced Von der Leyen, who noted that the EU needs more resources, given that forest fires are “increasingly frequent and intense.”
With this acquisition, the EU’s firefighting capacity will double next year.
“No country can fight alone against these extreme weather events and their devastating force,” said the leader of the community executive, speaking in her third speech on the State of the Union, in plenary session of the European Parliament.
In Portugal, according to data from the Institute for the Conservation of Nature, since January 1, more than 100,000 hectares of forest have been burned.
Source: TSF
