France, Spain, Italy, Portugal Thinking Of Joint Forest Fire Force - AFP

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French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy on Friday invited Portugal to join efforts by fellow European Union members France, Italy and Spain to set up a common civil protection force aimed at fighting forest fires. "If there are large forest fires, it is better to be four nations which mobilise than just one alone," he told a news conference in Lisbon after holding talks with his Portuguese counterpart Antonio Costa.

"Since the 25 members of the European Union do not move forward fast enough, we have proposed going ahead with four members," he added.

The four European Union nations will cooperate by sharing water-dropping aircraft and other equipment, jointly training specialists and harmonizing the organizational structure of their civil protection forces, Sarkozy added.

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Portugal was especially hard-hit: flames destroyed 325,226 hectares (803,600 acres) of forest and agricultural land last year and killed 16 people. In neighbouring Spain 161,154 hectares of land were lost to fires, in France 22,400 hectares burned while in Italy 38,880 hectares were consumed by flames.

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http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Four_EU_Nations_Eye_Forming_Joint_Firefighting_Force.html