The first firefighting mission from six European countries, specifically from Romania, part of the EU’s pre-positioning pilot project for assistance in firefighting and exchange of technical know-how, was welcomed in Greece on Wednesday by Deputy Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Evangelos Tournas.
A total of 200 firefighters from six countries – Bulgaria, France, Germany, Romania, Slovakia and Malta – will be in Greece in July and August to help in the fire season. It is the second year the program has been put into effect, through the European Civil Protection Mechanism.
Minister Tournas thanked the Romanian mission and recalled their key contribution in the field during difficult fires last year (2022), and said that “the climate crisis has created massive problems, especially in Mediterranean Europe. We have, unfortunately, experienced them in the worst way here in Greece.”
The welcoming event took place at the Fire Brigade’s Training Center donated by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, in Nea Makri, on the eastern coast of Attica. It was attended among others by Romanian Ambassador to Greece Adriana Ciamba and the chief of the Fire Brigade, Lt. General Giorgos Pournaras.
