President Sakellaropoulou inaugurates Fire Service training centre donated by SNF

The President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou on Thursday inaugurated the new Fire Service Training Centre donated by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) in Nea Makri, Attica, with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis attending. She said the project was a sign of respect and recognition for the contribution of the fire service to society and yet another confirmation of the social sensitivity of the SNF, "which has for years supported the difficult work of the people on the front line of fire fighting".

"We recently admired the work of the EMAK rescuers in the lethal earthquakes of Turkey. We are moved each year by the heroic efforts of our fire fighters on the fire fronts or in flooded areas. We honour their high sense of professionalism, their efficiency, self-sacrifice as there are more than a few cases over the years of serious injuries and deaths while carrying out their dangerous duties," she said.

Mitsotakis noted that the government had from the first moment made it a top priority to upgrade civil protection as a whole and thanked SNF President Andreas Drakopoulos.

Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Christos Stylianidis said the goal was for the centre to not be limited to Greece but serve as a regional training centre for Southeastern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean and a creative space for the exchange of know-how between fire fighters and others involved in managing natural disasters, in a region considered a "hotspot" for the climate crisis, which will contribute to the work of the European Civil Protection Mechanism.

The new centre, covering an expanse of 3.8 hectares, includes 20 buildings with administrative, teaching, and living spaces, as well as practice areas and outdoor training facilities. In addition to the fire service, it will also be used to train armed forces, coast guard and Hellenic Police and municipal police personnel on fire safety issues, as well as fire fighters from other countries and fire safety officers from industry and other sectors of the economy.