ATHENS – “The end of the fire fighting season has brought us good news, as the losses are overwhelmingly smaller compared with last year, with the protection of human life being a constant priority,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Friday about the end of the fire fighting season at an event at the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection.

Mitsotakis said he was vindicated by his decision to set up an autonomous Ministry of Civil Protection, noting that “3.5 years ago this structure was a discredited office and now it has been transformed into a ministerial structure that played a foremost role not only in extreme weather conditions, but also the pandemic.”

“The strength and effectiveness of this ministry also stems from our determination to learn from experience, but also from our will to correct every mistake,” the prime minister pointed out and referred to the emphasis given by the current government in the field of prevention and especially to aerial patrols.

“Out of the 7,000 fires, only seven got out of control, which means that the rest were contained immediately,” Mitsotakis said. Finally, he referred to the planning for the operational programme of Civil Protection with resources from the Recovery Fund, making special mention to the acquisition of new firefighting aircraft, given that, as he said, the government now has both the ability and the know-how.