Sincere gratitude was expressed by the Portuguese Government to Italy for the immediate dispatch of two Canadair aircraft through the European Civil Protection Mechanism to help fight the serious fires that have been ravaging the entire national territory for days now.
In a meeting held at the air base of Monte Real, the Minister of the Interior, José Luís Carneiro, and the Minister of Defence, Helena Carreiras, expressly conveyed their personal thanks and the Government’s gratitude to the Italian Ambassador in Lisbon, Carlo Formosa, for Italy’s expeditious and tangible act of solidarity with Portugal, thus revealing, also in this occasion, the exceptional ties of friendship between the two Countries.
At the meeting, which was also attended by the president of Portugal’s Civil Protection Authority, José Duarte da Costa, the two ministers personally thanked the crews of the two Canadair aircraft for the more than 150 complex firefighting missions in which they engaged during the three days of operations in Portugal.
Since the beginning of the year, more than 40,000 hectares of land have been burnt in Portugal, which is more than the whole area burnt in 2021 and close to the amount recorded in 2017, a year sadly remembered for the tragic fire of the Pedrógão Grande.
In the light of the severity of the situation, the state of alert was called over the whole continental territory on 8 July and raised last Monday to the following level of severity due to the meteorological conditions that forecast persisting record-high temperatures compounded with low air humidity levels.
In the photo, the Minister of the Interior Carneiro and the Minister of Defence Carreiras with Ambassador Formosa and the crews of the two aircraft.
