“Greece is facing an unprecedented environmental crisis with several large fires in many parts of the country following a heat wave entering its second week,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Thursday after speaking returned to the disaster areas of Ilia.
The Prime Minister again thanked the firefighters and volunteers, as well as civilians in Ilia who joined the battle and worked with state forces to contain the destructive fire and mitigate its impact.
“A big thank you to the women and men who fought to protect the site of Olympia with its imposing global symbolism,” Mitsotakis said.
” The fight goes on. We still have active fronts and tomorrow we expect another difficult day as we expect stronger winds, ”he added.
” We are doing our best. I also want to say that I fully understand the anger, the rage, the anguish of the citizens who have seen their properties destroyed ”, declared the Prime Minister.
“Unfortunately, even though we have more firefighting planes per capita than any other country, it is impossible for them to be available in all parts of the country at one time,” Mitsotakis added.
He explained that the planes were allocated on the basis of certain criteria and on the basis of instructions from the central coordinating body of firefighters, which had a more complete picture of the dangers posed by each fire.
Mitsotakis stressed the importance of organized evacuations to protect the most precious asset, which was human life, stressing the need to cooperate.
“When an evacuation is carried out, it is for the good of the citizens, to protect their lives”, he declared, while stressing that the State will be on the side of the victims of the fires when the time comes.
“We now have a legislative framework for state aid, which means that all citizens who have had their homes destroyed will be compensated so that they can be restored and our farmers will also be compensated for their crops and trees. damaged ” Mitsotakis noted.
“We have proven that we are quick and efficient in compensating citizens,” he added.
The Prime Minister stressed that anyone who doubts the reality of climate change “can come and see for himself”.
He concluded by announcing that Greece had secured two billion euros in EU funds for the largest civil defense program, although the focus is now on the “very urgent situation before us”.
Updates on the Athens fire: VOLUNTARY – EMERGENCY – DONATION – GENERAL.
