EU, for Crans-Montana assistance to Switzerland from 21 European countries
Brussels (ANSA) – In response to Switzerland’s request through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism regarding Crans-Montana, so far 24 patients have been transported to hospitals in Belgium, France, Germany and Italy. The European Commission announced this. France, Italy, Luxembourg, Romania and Switzerland have provided the logistics for the medical transport.
The burn assessment teams from France and Italy are supporting Swiss hospitals in Valais and Lausanne, providing highly specialized expertise in burn care. So far, 21 countries have offered assistance: 18 for treatment, 9 for transport and 6 for experts. The Commission highlights the rapid response activated with the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, and the ongoing efforts to evacuate severely injured patients and provide them with specialist care.
To this end, it notes, experts known as “burns assessment teams” have been sent to Switzerland. Switzerland is further assessing the situation, Brussels adds, noting that the EU Emergency Response Coordination Centre immediately sent two liaison officers to oversee the medical evacuation operation and coordinate contacts with the Swiss national authorities on the ground.
The Emergency Response Coordination Centre also remains in close contact, ready to coordinate further evacuations in the coming days. The EU Civil Protection Mechanism was activated in a similar context in March 2025, after the fire in a nightclub in North Macedonia, Kočani, which caused numerous burn injuries and dozens of medical evacuations abroad.
Since its establishment in October 2001, the EU Civil Protection Mechanism has handled more than 820 requests for assistance both inside and outside the EU, including medical evacuation operations from Ukraine and Gaza. In addition to EU countries, ten other states participate in the European Civil Protection Mechanism: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Türkiye and Ukraine (2 January).
