EU official announces 300-strong firefighting force to battle wildfires across Europe

NICOSIA: The European Union's climate commissioner on Friday announced a continentwide force of 300 firefighters to battle wildfires, after Europe faced its worst year for wildfires in 2025, which a recent study said was intensified by climate change.

EU Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said Friday the "rapid reaction force" will be made up of firefighters from across the 27-member bloc and will be swiftly deployed where needed.

Hoekstra said the decision to form the unit was made in the last year. He acknowledged that it may require more personnel and equipment in the future, but called it "a huge step forward compared to some five years ago."

"It is a clear sign of solidarity and that we want to tackle this together," Hoekstra told a press conference following a meeting of EU environment and climate ministers in the Cypriot capital.

Hoekstra didn't specify where the unit will be based and if it will be activated in time for the summer wildfire season.

In September last year, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU would set up a Cyprus-based regional firefighting hub that could also assist Middle East countries in battling major wildfires.

Von der Leyen said in her annual address to the European Parliament that it was necessary to "give ourselves the tools" to combat wildfires made worse by climate change as summers become "hotter, harsher and more dangerous."

A study released in August last year indicated that climate change worsened summer wildfires in southern Europe, with the likelihood of similar wildfire outbreaks rising sharply.

Hundreds of wildfires that broke out in the eastern Mediterranean in June and July were driven by temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius (about 104 Fahrenheit), extremely dry conditions and strong winds.

The fires killed 20 people, forced 80,000 to evacuate and burned more than 1 million hectares (2.47 million acres).

The study by World Weather Attribution ( WWA ) said the fires were 22% more intense in 2025, Europe's worst recorded year of wildfires.

The study found winter rainfall ahead of the wildfires had dropped by about 14% since the pre-industrial era, when a heavy reliance on fossil fuels began. It also determined that because of climate change, weeklong periods of dry, hot air that primes vegetation to burn are now 13 times more likely.