Europe works together as fires blaze

As southern Europe braces itself for forest fires a crack EU firefighting squad has been brought together, reports theNew York Times. For the first time, officially at least, two water bomber planes stationed in Corsica are under the direct control of the EU rather than member states. “Last year, these EU planes answered six pleas for help, on one occasion making 52 water drops in four hours. They flew to fires in Portugal, Greece, Italy and France,” says the NYT. The newspaper argues the experiment teaches a wider lesson for those promoting closer cooperation among the 27 nations of the European Union: rather than thinking big, start small.

There are problems lying ahead for the strategy as southern Europe burns in the annual forest fire season, though, principally a lack of resources: “[Last year] Bulgaria made an approach, but there was nothing available,” said Hans Das, who heads the EU office for civil protection and disaster response. “Eventually, Russia provided aircraft. We felt it was unfortunate that Europe was not able to come to the aid of that country.”