Cypriot members of the European Parliament on Wednesday demanded that the island be offered more protection from the consequences of wildfires as the Strasbourg plenary session discussed the European Union’s preparedness to deal with fires and heatwaves in the future.

“The climate crisis is here, even if the conservative [United States President Donald] Trump imitators do not recognise it, and even if [European Commission President Ursula] von der Leyen underestimates it,” Akel MEP Giorgos Georgiou said.

“Heatwaves kill, fires destroy, and the countries of Europe’s south are being tested,” he added.

“Cyprus is on the front line. Extreme temperatures, prolonged drought, burned forests, lost property, human lives at risk. It is not enough to measure the disasters. We need more prevention, and not that which is based on costs, more resilience, and more solidarity.”

He added that the island “can and must become a model European regional centre for forest firefighting and civil protection for the eastern Mediterranean”, highlighting the island’s “strategic geographical location”.

The island, he said, should be given “permanent aerial means, with specialised personnel and sufficient European funding”.

Meanwhile, Disy MEP Loukas Fourlas hailed the European Commission’s decision to bolster its deployment of firefighters and equipment to areas of the EU which are vulnerable to wildfires under the bloc’s civil protection mechanism.

“There will be a record number for the European Union: 777 firefighters, 22 aircraft, and five helicopters in various parts of European territory, so that they can assist at any time where they are needed,” he said.

“I would like to know if there is any planning for where they will go and when.”

“I was and remain one of those who strongly supported the absolute need for a permanent and reinforced rescEU presence in Cyprus, as its geographical isolation made it vulnerable,” he said. RescEU is the EU’s strategic reserve of disaster response capabilities, including firefighting aircraft.

He said that he believes that the EU is “on the right track”, but that “continued reinforcement is necessary”.

On this matter, the commission had said that firefighters and equipment have this year been deployed to “strategically pre-positioned … high-risk areas across Cyprus, Greece, Italy, France, Spain, and Portugal”.

The bloc has also set up a regional firefighting hub in Cyprus, which the commission last month said will “strengthen wildfire preparedness and response capacities, across Europe and the south Mediterranean region”.