A mission of Romanian firefighters to Greece was welcomed by the Minister of Climate Crisis

The first mission that arrived in Greece from Romania as part of the pre-positioning pilot project of firefighters from 6 European countries was welcomed by the Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Christos Stylianidis in a ceremony held at the Fire Academy premises. The 28 Romanian firefighters arrived yesterday by road in Athens with their own vehicles and will be in Athens until July 31. During July, the Romanian firefighters will change their shift once as on July 15 they will be replaced by 28 other colleagues from Romania.

Mr. Stylianidis, after personally thanking them for their participation in the program, also expressed his thanks to the head of the Emergency Management Service of Romania, Deputy Minister Dr. Raed Arafat, for his initial support of the program. “Thank you very much for coming in a difficult summer for our country to help and prove in practice that European solidarity is not something theoretical but something concrete,” said Mr. Stylianides, among others.

As he said, the pre-installation program was a program discussed within the framework of the European Civil Protection Mechanism. “It was a Greek proposal. Romania accepted it from the first moment because it understood its extreme importance in order to have this real solidarity in the practice of the field among Europeans. For us, our own firefighters, this act of solidarity on Greek soil means a lot. It means that you can exchange knowledge and experiences, you can learn from the experience of our own firefighters, which is excellent, and you can also contribute from your own experiences”, underlined the minister.

“We want you to feel that you came here, you found a new family and you will receive the best welcome, but we will be by your side in whatever you need. Some of you have felt the retribution from the Greeks. The Greek is a man who expresses his gratitude in an immediate way when someone helps him in a difficult time and you can be sure that again this year if events happen we will all be together on the field. For whatever is difficult, you will fight with our own firefighters so that we can save lives and limit the effects on the environment, on properties and in general the effects of the climate crisis”, Mr. Stylianidis concluded.

For his part, the head of the Romanian mission Pyrarchos (Colonel) Adrian Alexandru Csilik, noted that “It is not the first time we are in Greece and we are very happy to have the opportunity to work with our Greek colleagues again”, thanking the minister and the entire Fire Brigade for the welcome, hospitality and excellent cooperation .

Deputy Minister Evangelos Tournas, as well as the head of the Fire Brigade, Lieutenant General Alexios Rapanos, also attended the welcoming ceremony at the Fire Academy.

At the same time, the corresponding delegation from Bulgaria arrived in Larissa, which was welcomed by the regional governor of Thessaly, Kostas Agorastos, together with the deputy regional governor, Vassilis Pinakas and the head of Civil Protection of the Region, Vassilis Karalis. Also present at the reception were the Operations Coordinator of the Fire Brigade of Central Greece and Thessaly, Major General Dimitris Karasavvidis, as well as the Commander of the Fire Services of Thessaly, Chief Evangelos Falaras.

It is recalled that more than 200 firefighters from Bulgaria, France, Germany, Romania, Norway and Finland will be in Greece for the two months of July – August, in order to assist in the fire protection of our country and to exchange know-how with their Greek colleagues. The missions will be based in three places, in Athens, Larissa and Tripoli. This is a pilot program implemented through the European Civil Protection Mechanism, with the support of Commissioner Janez Lenarčič, responsible for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, as well as the European Commission.

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