Canadair

Outgoing European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides (r) and Citizens' Protection Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis talk before a ceremony at the Elefsina Air Force Base on Thursday to welcome Greece's contribution of two Canadair CL-415 firefighting aircraft to RescEU, a European Union program aimed at enlisting the help of member-states to respond to na

Greece will participate in a new European Union program aimed at enlisting the help of member-states to respond to wildfires and other natural disasters, the country's General Secretariat for Civil Protection said on Tuesday.
Last month, the European Commission inaugurated its first fleet of firefighting aircraft under a new program dubbed rescEU without the participation of Greece.

Conservative New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Wednesday visited the Canadair base in Elefsina, western Attica, and thanked the firefighters he met there for their efforts to douse last week's catastrophic blazes.

Greece's public order minister has said Italy is dispatching two Canadair firefighting planes and Romania is sending a third aircraft to help combat wildfires near the Greek capital that have claimed the lives of at least 74 people.

By Yiannis Papadopoulos