To transform the Civil Protection into a modern national mechanismfor crisis management and response to risks spoke, among others, the Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection,Evangelos Tournas, in the context of the 16th Synod of New Democracy.
Tournas referred to the decision of the Prime Minister,Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in September 2021, to create an autonomous Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, with, he said, “clear responsibilities, operational structure and the possibility of coordination of all relevant agencies”.
“From then until today, the Country’s Civil Protection has been transformed into a modern national crisis management and hazard response mechanism. With alternatives in organization, infrastructure, means, financing, coordination and institutional consolidation,” Mr. Tournas noted.
At the beginning of his speech, Mr. Turnas said:
“I am particularly happy to be here today, at the 16th Congress of our party,
the party that has been identified with metabolism and democracy.
Which included Greece in the European Union as an equal partner.
Which brought strong and stable governments, which worked for progress and prosperity.
Culminating in the current government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, which brought the country out of memoranda, and from a bad example in 2019, has a leading role in European events and is today a model of recovery, progress and stability.”
As the minister stressed, the country’s security is not only about defence and policing but also “the ability of the state to protect its citizens against the consequences of the climate crisis“.
“It is about preparedness, resilience, preparedness and immediate response of the mechanism,” he stressed.
At the same time, the minister referred to the reorganization of the Fire Department, the restructuring of the General Secretariat for Civil Protection and the upgrading of the Voluntary Civil Protection through the legislative Regulations that have been voted while stressing that they have moved to implement an operational doctrine that “provides for surveillance and early warning, mobilization of forces and immediate intervention to suppress the incident in the first instance.”
According to the minister, a key objective of the ministry was to prevent and improve resilience, an area he said had been “abandoned for decades”.
He then spoke about the prevention actions being implemented, the importance of cleaning the land and mentioned the strengthening of the Fire Department.
Speaking about the AIGIS program, he referred to “the largest Public Protection program ever implemented in our country”, worth more than 2 billion euros, and added that having it as their main tool, they are proceeding to equipthe Mechanism “with the appropriate means to upgrade its overall operational capacity and effectiveness”.
In conclusion, Mr. Turnas noted: “We do not claim that the battle, against the climate crisis is easy. The conditions are getting harder every year. The extreme weather events are more frequent, more intense and more unpredictable. That is why the response cannot be piecemeal. It requires planning, investment, coordination and constant preparedness. Because the protection of human life, civilian property and the natural environment is above all a matter of responsibility to society and to future generations”.
