On Thursday 17 April, a meeting took place, under the Deputy Minister of National Defence Thanassis Davakis and the Deputy Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Evangelos Tournas, at the Ministry of National Defence, having as subject the contribution of the Armed Forces, and especially the air assets, during the fire fighting period, as well as the ensuring of the required coordination between the Ministry of National Defence and the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection.

The meeting was also attended by Chief/HAFGS Lieutenant General Dimosthenis Grigoriadis, the Chief of the Fire Service Lieutenant General FS Theodoros Vagias, the Commander of the Command of Constructions and Natural Disasters Relief Lieutenant General Mihail Klouvas, Deputy Chief/HNDGS Vice Admiral HN Theodoros Mikropoulos, the Director of A Branch of HAFGS Major General Konstantinos-Savas Tzovaras, the Director of Chief’s Staff Office of HAFGS Brigadier General Efthymios Greventopoulos and the Director of Forest Fire Fighting FS, Fire Colonel Dimitrios Antonakis.

The Deputy Minister of National Defence Thanassis Davakis stated after the meeting:

“We met today with the Deputy Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Evangelos Tournas and the competent members of the military and fire service leadership, having as subject the technical and operational coordination between the two Ministries, in the light of the fire fighting period starting in a few days.

The Armed Forces will contribute with all their power at the operational planning of the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection.

The protection of life, property and our natural wealth is a national priority”.

The Deputy Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Evangelos Tournas stated:

“The cooperation of the Fire Service with the Armed Forces is of great importance in the field of the Civil Protection of our country, since the climate crisis is a reality with unprecedented phenomena that no one can deal with by himself. The closer cooperation and the better coordination of all we have in the front against the natural threats are necessary. Not only regarding the directness and effectiveness of the operational action, but also during the stage of prevention. In this context, the contribution of the Armed Forces, with the personnel and the assets they possess, play an important role in the actions of the Civil Protection. Today we examined operational matters in the light of the start of the fire fighting period and agreed that our goal is to reinforce the interoperability, the level of readiness and the capabilities of our “defence” in the climate challenges, with absolute priority the protection of our citizens, our critical infrastructures and the environment”.