French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu was heckled on Monday during a visit to Le Porge, a town in south-western France severely affected by wildfires. Around 200 people gathered at the town hall, where 183 homes had burned down.
The Prime Minister announced €12m in aid for the Gironde and Landes regions, with €10m allocated to Gironde and €2m to Landes. Lecornu stated this aid would enable local authorities to "launch projects without delay" and develop "a sort of recovery plan." He also announced that building permits for the "equivalent reconstruction" of destroyed homes would be issued within a month, or potentially sooner.
An organiser for a group of affected residents accused the prime minister of not wanting to meet them, claiming they were blocked by riot police. Lecornu's office, however, stated it has "nothing to hide" regarding the conduct of fire operations, according to AFP reports.
Across Europe, wildfires continue to cause deaths and evacuations. In Greece, two people died and hundreds were evacuated after two fires broke out on the island of Salamina on Sunday. Belgium's largest nature reserve, Hautes Fagnes, has seen firefighters battling flames for a fourth day, with authorities noting the fire spread overnight but remained limited due to "more favourable winds and rainfall."
Spain's Aragón region president announced on Sunday that a soldier died in the Peñas de Riglos fire. The European Commission confirmed that 104 firefighters with 36 vehicles from France are assisting Spanish authorities in Aragón, where nearly 16,000 hectares have burned. Croatian police arrested four people on Monday on suspicion of starting fires in Zadar, following a wildfire that killed at least one person and injured dozens on Friday.