Support program for the Fire Brigade with resources from the NSRF and the Recovery Fundwithin the next few years, announced the prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis who visited earlier today the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection. As he said it is about necessary and imperative investmentwhile noting at the same time that the state apparatus is on the rampartswith the co-competent services coordinating more and better with each other.

The statement of Mr. Mitsotakis follows:

We created the new Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection as an answer to a demand of the times. And I am glad that this Ministry, now he steps well on his feet.

Today, we had the opportunity to discuss the medium-term planning regarding the very important investments made in the field of Civil Protection, with full utilization of resources from the NSRF and the Recovery Fund.

It will really be a cosmogony in terms of the means we will have at our disposal, to deal with all the crises caused by climate change, with the most important, of course, forest fires.

Over the next few years we will be acquiring new aircraft, new helicopters, many new vehicles for the Fire Department. And this is a necessary investment that we must make, as our first concern is always the protection of human life, human property, but of course also our natural environment.

Until then, of course, we have moved forward and have implemented a very methodical plan for the fire fighting season that we are already going through, with more aerial means, with more prevention actions.

Let me focus on this and ask, even now, for the necessary cooperation of all the Municipalities, who know very well the obligations they have undertaken in the context of the coordination that has been launched under the supervision of the Ministry.

I am especially happy because there is now more and better coordination. I would like to thank from the bottom of my heart, not only the men and women of the Fire Department, who are always on the front line, but also the officers of the Armed Forces, of the Local Government, but especially our volunteers, who have doubled in number it was three years ago. They are also very actively involved in this great collective effort to deal as best as possible with a phenomenon that we know will be with us.

The Minister is right to say that we will have fires every summer. The “key” is always early and quick intervention and in this area we will continue to work very hard to become better and better every year.

Let me ask once again, as it is already July 7 – so far the weather has helped us and things have been going well, but now we know that the next two months are difficult – absolute vigilance by everyone so that this summer to pass as painlessly as possible. The state apparatus will always be on the ramparts.

We now have a culture of evacuations, which is a great achievement for the country. To repeat the obvious: that when a “112” message is sent it is for the good of citizens, always, and our first concern is their own protection, so citizens must comply with the instructions of the Ministry and Civil Protection.

I wish and hope that all will be well. However, we – just like last year – will do our best and of course we will continue to build the foundations of this Ministry even more firmly.

In addition to the part of the intervention, the part of the state aid has now also shown significant examples of writing and now acquires a single roof and a political head.

And the citizens know very well that during our previous term, whenever major issues related to climate crises arose -fires, floods in Evia, in “Ianos”-, the state responded with much greater speed than ,what in the past. But that doesn’t mean we can’t get better.