Since the final fire damage on our islands is still being estimated which is the main criteria for deciding whether Croatia meets the conditions for activating the Solidarity Fund, Commissioner Corina Cretu on behalf of the Commission, proposed an alternative - Croatia could request assistance through the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) which provides immediate assistance from its participating states to victims of disasters, such as forest fires in Europe and elsewhere. It includes all 28 EU Member States and also Iceland, Motenegro, Norway, Serbia and Macedonia.
"This system has already been used during the forest fires in Greece, floods in BiH and Serbia and also intervened in some of the biggest catastrophes in the world, such as Hurricane Katrina in the United States as well as the earthquake in Haiti", said Picula.
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