Caroit rejects criticism of France's firefighting capacity

Paris - 04 August 2026: Minister Delegate Éléonore Caroit has rejected the accusation that France has insufficient domestic capacity to combat forest and vegetation fires. The criticism was a "spurious accusation," she said on Tuesday. Caroit noted that, according to the government, public funding for firefighting had increased from 450 million to 800 million euros. Her statement comes amid severe fires and growing doubts about the operational readiness of France's firefighting aircraft.The government bases its position on the expansion of the entire civil protection system, rather than solely on the ...