Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed his thanks to all those who contributed decisively to the fire fighting season, during an event organized by the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection in Thessaloniki.

“We are here to personally say a big thank you for the battles you have fought in the field, to date, in the hottest summer on record in the last 40 years with the Climate Crisis now present, with many more fires than last year“, said Mr. Mitsotakis and continued: “This year a very serious effort was made. To date the average burned acres, despite having far more fires and far worse conditions, is almost 30% less than the 20 year average and we owe that to you. We will go strong together, we will take stock at the end of the season, we will also learn from our mistakes, because every year we have to get better, but I really believe that the water has entered the groove and it is because of you.

The prime minister made a special mention of the volunteers and praised their work.

Together with the Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Vassilis Kikilia, Mr. Mitsotakis greeted several of the attendees and talked with them.

The entire speech of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is as follows:

“Dear officers of the Fire Brigade, dear officers of the Local Government, Mr. Regional Governors, Mr. Mayors, dear volunteers, friends,

We are here today just before the opening of the International Exhibition of Thessaloniki, in a beautiful, very warm gathering, first and foremost, to say to you, to say to you personally, a big “thank you” for the battles you fought in the field until today. In the hottest summer recorded in the last 40 years, with the climate crisis now present, with many more fires than last year.

With fires, as the Minister said, with different characteristics: more fires in Northern Greece, more fires in forests which in the past we thought were not so prone to fires, more fires caused by lightning at high altitudes, where one has to climb mountains, where there are often no roads to reach.

And yet, although the fire season is not yet over and we know that we still have a lot of work ahead of us, we should point out that this year a very serious effort was made and to date the average burned acres, although we have had many more fires and much worse conditions, is almost 30% less than the average of the last twenty years.

And we owe this to you and I really want to say a big “thank you”. You deserve the warmest applause because we know how difficult the daily battles you have to fight are.

And I know and we know how sad it can be for all of us when out of 4,000 fires that are quickly controlled, one can escape. And yes, one escaped in Attica, a fire that did a lot of damage.

Possibly in the world’s consciousness, some people will think that nothing has changed this year and do injustice to the great effort that we made, not us, that you made.

Because, indeed, a lot has changed in the doctrine of civil protection and especially in dealing with fires, starting with unprecedented prevention actions, forest clearings. Our friends the foresters will confirm this: never before have such sums been allocated as allocated by the three AntiNero programs, to clear forests, to open new fire protection zones, to clean existing fire protections, to clean forest roads.

And to do something else very important, which proves that society finally has the possibility to join us in this great collective effort, because it is collective, it concerns each and every one of us individually and the state first and foremost : cleaning of the plots.

More than 800,000 land clearings were done this year and, despite any difficulties, next year we will be better, we will collect faster the branches and dry grass collected by the Municipalities. It was what all the experts told us helped us a lot when the fires reached zones close to the urban fabric.

It is perhaps the best proof of this sense of collectiveness that all of society must acquire to deal with the climate crisis.

So we’ve done a lot more in the area of ​​prevention, we’ve done a lot more in the area of ​​dealing with fire. I think everyone realized the enormous importance of drones, modern technologies in the rapid detection of outbreaks, the practice of the first attack, helicopters and planes that flew loaded on difficult days, to be able to intervene as soon as possible in a fire.

I think this is also the general image of all citizens, again, I emphasize, with the exception of the very difficult fire in Attica. If we asked you before August 10, what is the picture you would have of the way we dealt with the fires, I think everyone would say – and rightly so – that “the state was there, the air was there, the staff of the fire department was there, with a better arrangement of forces.”

To the children of EMODE, I want to say a special “thank you”. It is the children who enter the fire. A new Corps created from scratch with new guys, with different know-how, which is now dealing with the fire in the forest, we are not just waiting for it to come down the road. These are all conquests.

I am not referring to “112”, which has saved many lives, because the first and above all basic obligation of the state is the protection of human life.

And of course, with many investments which are still coming, because the climate crisis is with us. Things will not get better, rather they will get worse and as things get worse, we must constantly improve.

Yes, we spend more than 2 billion euros on Civil Protection infrastructure. The program started by Nikos Hardalias is now implemented by Vassilis Kikilias.

New aircraft. I was the first to mobilize the European Union on the need to collectively go as Europe and convince the Canadians that they need to restart the production line of the new Canadair 515s, because just the order from Greece was not enough to get this job done . We have succeeded and will be the first to receive the new Canadairs to replace the tired old Canadair 215s, which are still flying thanks to the honorable efforts of not only the pilots, but also the engineers.

We will get new helicopters, many more vehicles, new technologies. We have realized how important technology is and understanding how we can detect fires. All these – operational centers, regional operational centers – and many more, which we implement through the “Aegis” program.

And of course let me say one last thing: yes, the recovery has its own special importance, the speed with which we move. Those of you who may come from Evros or the regions of Attica already know very well how successful the institution of reforestation contractors was. We already have the first contractors, a few weeks after the Penteli fire, for the first restorations that will take place.

And the support, of course, that we provide to every local community that has been affected by the fire. We will meet before the end of the month in Evros to talk about the next day of Evros after the disastrous, the biggest fire in Europe that we faced last year in Evros and in the forest of Dadia.

So I don’t want to procrastinate because the reckoning will be at the end of October and I always want to stay calm because I know we still have tough days ahead of us.

I will close as I began. None of what I told you about could be done without the people in the field.

And a special “thank you” to our volunteers. They deserve the warmest applause. They are the ones who sacrifice their free time without any reward, in a much better cooperation, I must emphasize, because one of our great successes is that we now have better coordination.

The forestry services, which in the past were lost somewhere in the decentralized administrations, now come under the Ministry of the Environment and sit at the same table with the firefighters, with the volunteers, with our pilots, with the Armed Forces, which and these help in the difficult days we had to manage.

But for the volunteers I really want to say that you deserve the biggest “thank you”. The numbers of volunteers are increasing and will increase even more, and I would tell you that this is the best proof that we now realize as a society that the state is ultimately all of us. There is no state in isolation, which does not identify with and does not intersect with society itself.

So, we will move forward together strongly. We will take stock at the end of the firefight. We will also learn from our mistakes, because every year we have to get better, but I really believe that the water has entered the groove and it is because of you.

Thank you very much and I wish everyone good strength and a good end to the fire season”.