The Minister for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Giannis Kefalogiannis, spoke today on SKAI television about the new “Active Response” bill. As he explained, the legislation introduces a highly important and effective mechanism within Civil Protection that “lays the foundation for prevention and risk management in the field.”

The minister highlighted the creation of 13 local ESKEDIC units provided for in the bill—risk management centers to be established within the 13 Regional Fire Commands. As he noted, this initiative “will provide a unified overview of incident management and, in particular, of preventive monitoring in critical areas.”

At the same time, he emphasized that the bill places strong emphasis on prevention at the municipal and regional levels. “At present, all municipalities and regions have plans to respond to incidents and natural phenomena, but they lack preventive planning,” he said. He also referred to the upgrading of the Fire Academy, noting that “our firefighters will now be able to graduate with postgraduate degrees and even doctorates.”

Mr. Kefalogiannis also stressed the importance of prescribed burning, noting that “for the first time in our country, we are implementing systems that are already used in other countries.” He explained that during the winter and spring months, authorities will be able to burn accumulated forest floor material and biomass, while ensuring that “the forest itself remains intact—primarily the trees, as well as the ecosystem as a whole.”

Finally, the minister addressed the farmers’ mobilizations and OPEKEPE subsidy payments, emphasizing that the government remains open to dialogue. He noted that 20 of the 27 demands put forward by farmers and livestock breeders have already been met, and that payments totaling €3.8 billion will have been made by the end of the year.