Gov’t incapable of dealing with wildfires & protecting natural environment, says SYRIZA

The New Democracy government is trying to justify its failure in managing wildfires by claiming a far too great number of those and blaming the adverse weather conditions, SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance party said in a statement on Friday.

However, added the main opposition party, official data proves the government is wrong.

Greece this summer had 52% fewer large forest fires, with a simultaneous 195% increase in burnt regions compared to the average of the period 2002-2022, Syriza pointed out, citing data released by FLAME, a research project focusing on extreme fire weather and behaviour, which is funded by the Hellenic Foundation for Research & Innovation (HFRI) and is carried out at the Institute for Environmental Research & Sustainable Development (IERSD) of the National Observatory of Athens (NOA).

At the same time, Greece holds the first place among 20 Mediterranean countries in burned regions with almost 1.3 million acres having turned to ashes, Syriza pointed out.

“After four years in power there are no more excuses for the New Democracy government. The so-called ‘executive state’ of Mr. Mitsotakis proved incapable of dealing with the fires and protecting the country’s citizens and its natural environment,” the party noted.