Paris (AFP)
Emmanuel Macron announced that he had offered "immediate operational assistance" from France to Australia on Sunday to fight the fires that ravage the country and that left 24 dead.
"Solidarity with the Australian people in the face of the fires ravaging their country," wrote the President of the Republic in two tweets in French and in English.
"This morning, I called" Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison "to offer our immediate operational assistance to fight fires, protect people and conserve biodiversity," he said.
Australian authorities said on Sunday that unprecedented wildfires that have been devastating entire regions of the country for several months have left 24 people dead and "considerably damaged".
Hundreds of properties were destroyed and a man died on Saturday, during one of the worst days since the fires started in September.
On Thursday, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and his head of government castigated Emmanuel Macron's "silence" over the deadly fires in Australia.
Critics of the French president during the fires in the Amazon in August and September last had been very badly received in Brasilia and caused a diplomatic quarrel between Brazil and France which was not settled.
© 2020 AFP