Athens: Greece appointed the first minister of civil protection on Monday in a vast revamp of its civil defense mechanism after a sharp critic of the government’s response to a series of forest fires destroying this summer.
The new minister is Christos Stylianides, a former European Commissioner for humanitarian management and crisis management.
During his watch, from 2014 to 2019, the Euroepan Union created resceu, a body assigned to help deal with natural disasters.
More than a quarter of a million hectares of pine forests were destroyed in August by Blazes which burned for days and forced the evacuation of thousands of people from their homes.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsakakis has apologized openly for delays and disruptions in the official response to fires, and promised to correct errors.
Stylianides, a Greek Cyprus, served as a member of parliament and a government spokesman in two administrations differed in Cyprus.
It was unusual but it was unprecedented for Cyprus citizens to serve in the Greek government.