Portugal has applied for European support to have more aerial support to fight fires in the summer of 2023, according to The Portugal News.

During a seminar on the 2022 rural fire season, José Luís Carneiro, Minister of Internal Administration of Portugal, said: “We have just applied for European Union funds for additional aerial firefighting assets that could be part of the rescEU [European Civil Protection Mechanism instrument] transition fleet for the summer of 2023, and I am convinced that we will complete this process with great success.”

Carneiro also said that Portugal is still available to receive one of the four pre-positioning centres for air, land and human resources that the European Union plans to make available in parts of Europe.

The minister said that he had spoken with the Minister of the Interior of Spain to point out that there is in Castelo Branco an air and logistical means centre: “That has logistical infrastructure conditions to support, not only the national territory, but to support the countries of the Mediterranean and also to support Spanish territory”.

Carneiro added: “We will now wait for the outcome of this contest. And, with this willingness on the part of the European Commission, Portugal naturally has all the openness and conditions to contribute with its logistical resources and with its organisational capacity, knowledge and availability to, in this way, contribute to the reinforcement of the RescEU.”