site.btaBulgaria Expects Two Airplanes from Spain on Monday to Help Extinguish Fires, Interior Minister Says

Bulgaria expects on Monday two airplanes to arrive from Spain to help extinguish fires, said caretaker Interior Minister Kalin Stoyanov in a Facebook post Sunday.

Spain's readiness to once again join the firefighting efforts in this country is under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.

The Canadair aircraft will be directed to the hotspots and will start extinguishing as soon as possible, the Minister said.

"I express my great gratitude to all those who continue to be on the ground, as well as to the Member States of the European Union for the rapid response and solidarity they are showing towards us," Kalin Stoyanov further wrote.

This is the latest assistance Bulgaria is receiving from Spain under the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism. Since mid-July, Bulgaria has been fighting forest fires in various places in the country. Aircraft from Spain, as well as from the Czech Republic, have been involved in containing them.

France also sent one reconnaissance and two fire-fighting aircraft to tackle the large forest fire on the Bulgarian-Greek border.  

Two Swedish aircraft also took part in firefighting in the Blagoevgrad region.

The EU Civil Protection Mechanism coordinates responses to natural and man-made disasters at EU level.

Any country in the world can request assistance through the Mechanism when an emergency exceeds its response capacity.