PM Mitsotakis: The climate crisis is dangerous and threatening for all

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“The climate crisis is dangerous and threatening for all. The answer must be given by everyone,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Thursday addressing the parliament during a debate on the wildfires.

“The fires do not have political colour,” he said and expressed his support to all those that suffered from the wildfires. He reassured that the state will immediately complete the compensations’ process as well as the restoration of the burnt forests.

Mitsotakis reiterated that the preparation this year was better, however, the state mechanism was confronted with a cocktail of unprecedented phenomena.

“There were weeks with 500 wildfires and we had extreme level 5 alert levels 7 times. Last year we did not have any in order to understand the extreme conditions with which we were confronted.”

Concerning the wildfire in Parnitha, he said that it was immediately detected by the police and the first water dropping from a helicopter was held 5 or 6 minutes after but this was not enough to contain it.

• The Ministry of Justice is promoting provisions to increase fines and immediate prison sentences for arson even in cases of simple negligence, the prime minister noted, reiterating that there are available more forest firefighting resources than ever.

“The state is present but the fire persists. Nothing is as we knew it in relation to natural threats. But let’s not nullify the steps taken to establish Civil Protection and the struggle of all those fighting on the front line. They deserve gratitude and honour and not easy criticism,” Mitsotakis stressed and reiterated:

• “The government’s priority is the protection of human life, including of course the life of animals. Next comes the protection of property, critical infrastructures and the natural environment.”

“Whoever disagrees with this hierarchy should state it directly, we will continue to use the emergency number 112 and save human lives,” he stressed. We are proud that 15,000 people were moved to Alexandroupolis and that an entire hospital was evacuated, the Prime Minister emphasized and added that those in the fire department are doing a very good job.

The prime minister also referred to the evacuation of 20,000 people in Rhodes, saying that the operation was praised abroad but unfortunately failed at home.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis underlined that prevention is necessary and announced that 160 million euros from the Recovery Fund alone were allocated to prevention measures, i.e. cleaning and opening fire zones.

“Greece – the first of all European countries – will be supplied with the new Canadairs by 2027 at the latest. Our ability to intervene early on fires can be improved through the procurement of drones and thermal cameras,” he noted.

The prime minister also announced an increase in the number of forest commandos, but also the critical redirection of resources to Civil Protection from the Recovery Fund.

“I have spoken with the President of the European Commission and we have agreed that EU resources will be allocated for compensation to farmers and breeders and also for the protection of the forest area in Dadia,” he said.

Source: ANA – MPA

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