Cyprus Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos on Monday thanked Greece and his Greek counterpart George Gerapetritis for swiftly responding to Cyprus’ request for assistance with fighting a wildfire in the mountains of Limassol.
“I warmly thank my friend, Minister G. Gerapetritis, for the immediate response and sending two Canadair aircraft, which will assist in putting out the fire in the Limassol district,” Kombos said on the messaging platform X, formerly Twitter.
An earlier tweet by the Greek foreign ministry late on Sunday had announced that Greece was sending “two Canadair firefighting aircraft to Cyprus tomorrow morning (Monday) to assist in combatting the large fire in Limassol district,” following relevant communication between Foreign Minister Gerapetritis, his Cyprus counterpart and Greece’s Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias.
European Commissioner for Crisis Management, in charge of European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Janez Lenarčič also thanked Greece for its assistance, in a tweet in the early hours of Monday.
“Upon request for assistance by Cyprus due to wildfires near Limassol we have activated the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. Greece has already responded and will send two Canadairs in the morning to assist in fighting the large fire in Limassol district. Thank you, Greece!” he said.
According to the latest report from Cyprus Justice and Public Order Minister Anna Koukkidi-Prokopiou, meanwhile, the fire was under control with no flames actively burning, while all Cypriot forces were on standby. She said the plan of operations regarding the use of aircraft from Cyprus and abroad was being constantly adapted to prevailing conditions, with strong winds expected later on Monday.
SOURCE; ANA-MPA
