Greece

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s fire department sent helicopters and firefighters to the country’s second-largest island of Evia on Monday, while the coast guard readied boats in case a sea evacuation became necessary as yet another forest fire broke out that was fanned by strong winds.

This month, which began with Greece’s most severe heat wave in about three decades, is quickly turning into one of the country’s most destructive fire seasons, with dozens of wildfires breaking out every day across the country.

AGDINES, Greece (AP) — For generations, residents in the north of the Greek island of Evia have made their living from the dense pine forests surrounding their villages. Tapping the ubiquitous Aleppo pines for their resin, the viscous, sticky substance the trees use to protect themselves from insects and disease, provided a key source of income for hundreds of families.

ATHENS, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Greece's borders will remain secure in wake of developments in Afghanistan, said a Greek minister during a visit Friday to the Evros region near the border with Turkey, according to the country's national news agency AMNA.

"The crisis in Afghanistan has changed the geopolitical sphere and increased the possibility of migration flows," said Citizen Protection Minister Michalis Chrisochoidis.

ATHENS, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Greece's border forces are on alert to avoid a repeat of the mass arrivals of migrants that the country experienced in 2015, the government's spokesman said on Thursday, following the return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan.

Greece was on the frontline of Europe's migration crisis in 2015, when nearly one million people fleeing conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan landed on its islands.

ALEXANDROUPOLIS, Greece, Aug 13 (Reuters) - The EU's border agency is trialling new high-tech surveillance equipment to detect migrant boats, just as rapid gains by Taliban fighters in Afghanistan have raised the prospect of a surge in people fleeing to Europe.

A balloon system equipped with cameras is being tested at Alexandroupolis airport near the Greek-Turkish land border in northeastern Greece, and on the island of Limnos, with the aim of giving border officials a clearer view of approaching boats.

ATHENS, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis defended his government on Thursday as public anger grew over the response to wildfires that have ripped through thousands of hectares of forest over the past 10 days.

On Evia, Greece's second-largest island, where some of the worst fires have occurred, rain provided some relief to exhausted firefighters. But with the entire forest covering the northern part of the island destroyed, residents were bereft.

12 Aug 2021; MEMO: Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi said yesterday that the EU should offer more support to help Turkey mitigate the pressures of more migrant arrivals from Afghanistan as the bloc could not absorb another crisis such as the one faced in 2015, Reuters reports.

Mitarachi said the EU is not ready and does not have the capacity to handle another major migration crisis.

"It would lead to more people trying to leave and come to the EU," Mitarachi said.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Thursday that the devastating wildfires that burned across the country for more than a week were the greatest ecological catastrophe Greece had seen in decades.

ATHENS, Aug 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Hundreds of firefighters were battling to control two massive wildfires in Greece on Wednesday, one raging for nine straight days, that have left hundreds homeless and caused incalculable damage.

   With the assistance of a huge multinational force, Greek fire crews were fighting to beat back blazes on the island of Evia and in the Peloponnese peninsula in rugged terrain.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A massive wildfire burning for days on the northern tip of Greece’s second largest island continued to devour forests Tuesday, its thick smoke hanging in the streets of a nearby town as hundreds of firefighters battled to save what they could.

Burning since Aug. 3, the blaze has destroyed most of the north of Evia, an island of rugged, forested mountains popular with campers and summer vacationers from Greece and abroad.