Greece to host 245 European firefighters for 2026 fire season under EU Civil Protection program
A total of 245 firefighters from France, Moldova, Romania and the Czech Republic will be deployed to Greece from mid‑July to mid‑September 2026 as part of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism’s pre‑deployment programme. They will be based at Greek Fire Service facilities in Attica/Nea Makri, Thessaloniki and Patras.
The programme aims to bolster Greece’s capacity to fight forest fires, offer joint field training and transfer practical experience back to the participants’ home nations. The Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection said, “For another year, Greece will host the largest number of firefighters,” continuing the country’s involvement since the pilot in 2022.
In addition, two Greek special forest‑fire units comprising 21 personnel each will be sent to France (Gignac, Monpelier area) in July and to the Platanias forest station in Lemnos in September to support French and Cypriot crews. Overall, 777 firefighters from 14 European countries will take part in the current fire‑season pre‑deployment, with further host nations slated to include France, Spain, Italy, Cyprus and Portugal.