Former Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras addressed the forest fires that have affected his country in recent weeks and the climate crisis.
Tsipras said climate change could not be used indefinitely to explain the consequences of natural disasters, adding that the key question was what was being done to protect people from the problems caused by the climate crisis.
Defense budget proposal
Tsipras said that much larger forested areas could be saved if a tenth of the resources allocated to armament were used to combat forest fires.
Tsipras said Greece wanted to ensure its security and purchase weapons, but added that protecting natural assets and property lost in fires was also a security issue.
Tsipras proposed allocating part of the defense budget to Canadair firefighting aircraft, Agusta Bell helicopters and other aircraft instead of Rafale and F-16 fighter jets.
Comparison with Türkiye and Italy
Tsipras said the climate crisis was affecting not only Greece but also neighboring Türkiye and Italy, adding that the increase in areas affected by fires in those countries was lower than in Greece.
Tsipras argued that more could be achieved in combating wildfires than the current results if sufficient resources were allocated.