Albania turns to EU for help in extinguishing wildfires

The head of Albanian General Directorate of Civil Emergencies, Haki Çako, stated today that the operations for extinguishing the flames which have spread rapidly in some areas of the country are continuing, Report informs, citing the Albanian Daily News.

Çako noted that they have also contacted the center for responding to civil emergencies in Brussels, but an aggravated situation is present in other Balkan countries. He stated that troops of the Albanian Armed Forces were sent by helicopter to Karaburun to make extinguishing the flames possible.

"There are many forces from the ground that operate in certain units. We contacted the civil emergency response center in Brussels. Due to the aggravated situation, all Balkan countries have been affected by high temperatures that have also experienced fires. We will continue until the situation normalizes.

The operation has not started today. It has been days since it started. Today it has become necessary to intensify the human resources of the Armed Forces and increase the air force," Haki Çako said.

"With the work done and the increase of resources, we hope to keep the situation under control. Due to the difficult terrain, the operation continued yesterday and today. We intend to stop the advance of the fire," he stressed.