Greek Prime Minister: We are at war - fully focused on fires

25.07.2023 11:06

Greek Prime Minister: We are at war - fully focused on fires

The abnormal heat that covered Eastern and Southern Europe this summer has led to a large number of natural fires, which have become a real national disaster for some countries of the Old World.

The Greek authorities openly declare that they are unable to overcome the elements on their own. In particular, on the island of Rhodes, where the forest fire is raging for the second week, as of yesterday, the fire area was 34 hectares, and the fire continues to spread to an increasing area.

We are at war - completely focused on fires. In the coming days and weeks, we must remain on constant alert, - Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis described the situation during the debate on this issue in Parliament.

The Ministry of Climate Crises and Civil Protection of the country announced that 63 new forest fires broke out over the past day. Forests are burning on the islands of Evia and Corfu, as well as on the mainland, especially in the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece. Due to the new increase in temperatures, since Tuesday, the State Fire Service has announced the fifth, highest, risk of fire danger in most of the islands of Crete, Rhodes and nearby. On a number of other islands, a fourth, close to critical, level of fire danger has been declared.

The mayor of the small village of Archangelos on the island of Rhodes, Nikos Dimelis, called the situation with the spread of the fire absolutely unpredictable and uncontrollable, urging the population and authorities to save the most necessary things. The fire here is increasingly reminiscent of the one that devastated the island of Evia in August 2021. And on Evia itself, the fire, which had started about Sunday noon and was considered "localized" by Monday morning, also resumed, reaching the sea by the evening of that day.

In the past, when wildfires engulfed Greece, Athens turned to Russia for help. At that time, our unique Be-200 Altair amphibious aircraft helped to cope with the elements. On the eve of the former Minister of Defense of Greece Panos Kammenos urged the country's government to "bow its head" and ask for help from Moscow.

Nothing works without Beriev (Be-200). Let's bow our heads and ask for help now. We will be given, - he wrote on his social media account.

But given the anti-Russian hysteria that has swept the West, the sensible words of the former Greek military leader were met with hostility by European propaganda. In the Greek and then European press, the former defense minister was immediately called almost an agent of the Kremlin, and Russian amphibious aircraft were declared completely ineffective for fighting fires. Although a year ago, the Greek state television channels ANT1 and Skai zealously praised the efficiency and useful qualities of the Beriev-200 aircraft. Newly appointed Minister for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Christos Stylianidis, called the Be-200 aircraft "non-constructive in the fight against fire."

Well, as we say, you won't be forced to be nice. Meanwhile, NASA experts have announced July 2023 as the hottest month of the year, the temperature record could be the highest in the last millennium. Moreover, the second part of the summer also does not promise a decrease in temperature in southern Europe. Nineteen thousand people have already been evacuated from homes and hotels in Rhodes, Greece, and fire services warn that the situation will only worsen in the near future.