The first firefighters arrived in the Greek capital on Saturday. The 28 professionals were received by the Minister of Climate Protection and Civil Defense Christos Stzilianides and the Greek Fire Service Department.
Romania, along with other countries such as Russia and Turkey, helped Greece fight large-scale forest fires in August 2021. The fire devastated the northern part of the second largest island, Evia, as well as the Peloponnese peninsula.
This year, the European Union launched a pilot project that aims to eventually become a permanent program of cooperation at the European level.
Under the programme, the Romanian firefighters, who brought five fire engines with them, will work in the Attica region, which includes Athens, until July 31. The Romanian firefighters who arrived on Friday 15 July will be replaced by a group of Romanian firefighters of the same number. And in August, 25 French firefighters will take their place.
Also on Friday, 16 Bulgarian firefighters with four fire engines arrived in Larissa, located in the central part of the country, where they will remain on duty throughout the month of July.
On July 15, 16 German firefighters were working in the Peloponnese. They will be replaced at the beginning of August by 14 Norwegian and 24 Finnish firefighters, and they will be replaced by an equal number of Norwegian and Finnish crews in mid-August.
Forest fires are common in Greece, which are exacerbated by hot, dry weather and frequent strong winds. Because of climate change, the annual period of wildfires is also being postponed more and more.
Greek authorities said rising fuel costs were putting additional burdens on the fire department, with work planes dropping water while extinguishing mountains playing an important role.
Cover image source: Getty Images
