site.btaPrime Minister Glavchev Comments on Fires Raging in Bulgaria

During Friday’s blitz control, caretaker Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev said that situation with the fires in Bulgaria is serious. The EU Civil Protection Mechanism is completely sufficient for now, no other help is needed, he noted.

"Thanks to the actions of our firefighters, military personnel, forest officials, and volunteers, we are dealing with the outbreaks relatively quickly," said the caretaker Prime Minister.

He said that there is an operational taskforce for the fires in Bulgaria, which assesses when to activate the EU Civil Protection Mechanism and request help from another member country. The Prime Minister said that for now the country does not do not need to seek help from a country outside the European Union.

“There is no country that can handle such a situation on its own. This is why the EU Civil Protection Mechanism was invented,” said Glavchev, noting the assistance from French planes, as well as Spanish, Swedish ones, Czech helicopters. The Bulgarian Cougar helicopters from the Ministry of Defence were most actively involved, he specified. The Prime Minister added that this country is also grateful for the help that came from Turkiye.

Glavchev r assured that the operational taskforce is in coordination with the authorities in Greece and the Republic of North Macedonia, where there are also fires.

Glavchev’s comments were in answer to a question from BSP for Bulgaria Borislav Gutsanov, who asked the Prime Minister for information on whether the government is considering seeking help from other countries, outside the EU. "I don't want to hear cheering in the plenary hall, but you remember that at times we have received significant support from Russia with aircraft equipment," he said.