The president of PASOK-Movement for Change, Nikos Androulakisspeaking today in Parliament, described the supply of Canadair firefighting aircraft as “a very important step to strengthen the civil protection of our country”.

“Greece together with Spain, Portugal, Croatia and Italy will order 24 new type Canadair of which half, 12 at pan-European level, will be purchased with 100% European funding from European Civil Protection Mechanism and RescEU. Of the 7 that we will buy, 2 will be procured through RescEU without the Greek people paying a single euro, thus reducing the total cost of procurement by 30%,” he noted.

N. Androulakis expressed his pride as, as he recalled, “he has contributed since 2018, as a rapporteur in the European Parliament, so that the EU can practically show its solidarity with the countries of the South that every year fight a very difficult battle with fires and natural disasters”.

He also recalled that in 2018 “the Council and member states were against the creation of RescEU and were reacting to the EU paying for the purchase of firefighting aircraft for the countries of the South”.

“However, with a systematic effort and the significant contribution of Mr. Stylianides as the responsible commissioner, we managed to create RescEU, a pan-European pool of means, such as firefighting planes, helicopters, medical equipment that would be purchased with European money,” said N. Androulakis, adding “who will he imagined then that these would become so timely after some years with the global adventure of the pandemic, when the value of this mechanism was proven in practice”.

Its president PASOK-Movement for Change he said that the prime minister “presents the supply of these planes as the ultimate means of dealing with forest fires” and pointed out that “they really contribute a lot, but there are also reservations and “grey” areas in the contract.”

“However, we will vote for this convention because it is very important that this step be taken by our country and other European states,” he said.

N. Androulakis raised in his speech, insisting on its importance, the issue of preventing forest fires, reminding the Plenary of the Parliament that “last year, despite the great power to deal with fires and the existence of fewer outbreaks than other European states, we had worse accounts with over 1,600,000 acres of burnt land”.

He also noted that “climate change cannot constantly be an excuse that undermines the final result because there is no will to prevent”.

He referred to the important struggle that firefighters have every summer, who “can’t do everything by themselves” and emphasized the necessity of better and above all timely planning.

“A substantial upgrade of prevention and response plans is required. The European Civil Protection Mechanism is not just the two Canadairs, nor the hundreds of firefighters who come for free. It is much more. Civil protection plans can be examined and the Mechanism can propose changes based on best practices,” he emphasized, adding that “more funds must be allocated to prevention.”

He called on the government that “all it is doing is throwing the ball of responsibility from the ministry to the Local Government and back to the ministry”.

He said the government needs to do much more as “even today there is no clear timetable for when the new Canadairs will start production since the orders have to be signed by the other states”.

“Fix your mistakes, don’t sweep them under the rug like you do with other issues.” The “carpet” of natural disasters no longer fits under him responsibilities. Actions must be taken. The protection of the country’s natural wealth must become a national priority. Instead of crying and crying every summer over what’s burned, it would be good to have a national agreement on how the country will navigate the next 10 to 15 years through the escalating climate crisis. It is not only the responsibility of the ND government, it is the responsibility of all parties, because it concerns the next generations. We support the purchase of these aerial vehicles, but we need to do much more and we are ready to discuss them and agree on them, mainly at the level of prevention” the president of PASOK-Movement for Change concluded in his speech.