Magdeburg (dpa/sa) - Saxony-Anhalt's Forest Minister Sven Schulze is calling for a base in Germany if the EU-wide fleet of firefighting aircraft is to be expanded. Should Europe decide to expand the season, it would be appropriate to think about creating such a base in Germany, the CDU politician told the German Press Agency on Monday. According to the former MEP, appropriate discussions should at least be held at EU level. Lower Saxony's Interior Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) had already called for the squadron to be expanded last week.
In view of the recent forest fire in the Harz National Park, Schulze considers the current system to be basically good. "It's important for us that the planes are available quickly," he said. "And they did. We requested them on Sunday morning and they landed at the airport in Braunschweig on Sunday evening." The next day they flew the first fire-fighting mission in the Harz Mountains. Most recently, it had burned there on an area of around 160 hectares. This was the second forest fire in just a few weeks.
Schulze had recently expressed doubts about the model of the Harz National Park and wants to work on solutions together with his colleagues in Lower Saxony and the National Park Administration. The CDU politician wants to free the national park of dead wood in individual places and have wider aisles to make extinguishing work easier. Lower Saxony's Environment Minister Olaf Lies (SPD) rejects an extensive clearing.
