Fires in Europe. In a holiday paradise, the situation got out of control
In March, Cyprus boasted that he was better than ever before prepared to fight the fire destructive fireswho go crazy in southern Europe with disturbing frequency.
The government had ready 11 planes. The number of firefighters increased by 27 percent. 25 new fire trucks were available.
However, this was not enough.
When a huge fire broke out at the beginning of this month in the south of the island, The government's early warning system did not work. The system update, planned for 2024, was delayed. The inhabitants complained that the evacuation strategy was unclear, and fires specialists stated that the country had delayed the EU for too long.
The effects were catastrophic. The fire, the worst in two decades, reached Limassol, the second largest city of Cyprus. The corpse of an older couple was found in the car.
Within a few days, the government met with an avalanche of questions, including Why the warning system did not work and why was the reaction so chaotic?
European problem
The President of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides did not have many answers, only an apology among the waves of calls to bear responsibility and resignation.
“At such a critical moment the government did not react as it should. Sorry” – he said on domestic television. He promised that officials would investigate and” improve weak points of the system. “
Although the Cypriot government denies that it is poorly prepared – pointing to new resources, increasing the qualifications of staff and updated protocols – its struggles are symbolic for the situation in which southern Europe has now found itself.
Continued article under video material
Fires go crazy in Portugal, Spain, southern France, Sardinia, Greece, Bulgaria, Albania, North Macedonia and Turkey. According to the EU joint research center, this year has already burned more than twice as many areas than in the same period last year, which was a record fire season. Climate change only worsen the situation.
The risk of explosion of subsequent fires remains high – added the center. Specialists warn that governments are still not ready.
What went wrong
The situation in Cyprus is partly beyond government control.
High temperatures have been in the country for three years. They are accompanied by continuous drought, which significantly reduced water resources. It makes him Fire quenching is particularly difficult – said Savvas Izekiel, head of the Cypriot Forest Department. “Nobody was prepared for this fire, but we did what we could,” he added.
However, other elements such as Early warning systemlay directly at the government's responsibility. From 2022, Cyprus planned to update this system to adapt it to EU law, and intended to complete work until 2024. However, this did not happen.
The government granted a contract to a private company, but other enterprises formally questioned this decision, which caused the authorities to cancel the trial in May 2024 and began it again.
Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou said that the authorities tried to speed up the trial, citing security issues, but the required legal conditions could not be met. “If something goes wrong, it does not mean that the political superior is responsible,” he said on a local television station.
The government claims that it is currently working on launching a new system at the beginning of next year. Theoretically, updates will allow local population to send mass SMSs with fires, information and evacuation routes. They are also to help the authorities in a better location of people calling to emergency numbers.
But not only the technology failed.
“Please forgive”
Residents complained that evacuation strategy She was unclear and delayed, which, however, denied Ioannou. He claimed that the plans were working effectively, paying attention to the evacuation of many villages.
Specialists for forest fires said that the government was too slowly turned to the EU, despite the fact that the European Commission and neighboring countries finally sent planes.
It is worth noting that Cyprus does not participate in the Resceu program, EU initiative aimed at accumulating and sharing resources in the event of natural disasters. This country abstained from joining the program due to political differences between the previous President Nikos Anastasiades and the former EU Commissioner in Brussels Christos Stylianides, who created the program.
Destruction after fires in Cyprus, Soundi, 24 July 2025.Etienne Torbey / AFP
Last week, Stylianides said it was time for Cyprus to join the program.
Others criticized the government's refusal regarding the adoption of a part of the island in the north occupied by Turkey.
People dealing with fire policy say that Cyprus has not properly implemented the mechanisms of supervision over forest fires. Gavriel Xanthopoulos expert report – prepared in March, but published on Wednesday – states that the country needs better cooperation between the fire brigade and forest services.
“We ask for forgiveness if we were not able to react to all events at the same time,” said Nikos Logginos, the head of the Cypriot fire brigade. “Our resources were not inexhaustible.”
Political crisis
Government spokesman Konstantinos LEMMYMBIOTIS denied that the authorities committed neglect. “All plans and protocols that were developed were launched in unprecedented conditions,” he told local media.
After the fires, the politicians of all options threw themselves at the government.
Stefanos Stefanou, leader of the leftist opposition party of the Progressive Working People, immediately called the government to resignarguing that he did not fulfill his duties.
Annita Demetriou, head of the center -right democratic congregation, said that the president's apology is “too little”.
President Christodouldes, a conservative politician who left the Democratic Assembly in 2023 to start as an independent candidate, so far he is based on resignation. However, according to Andreas Theophanous, professor and president of the Cypriot Center for European and International Affairs, the reorganization of the government is inevitable. “I expect that it may take several weeks, but the government will be generally reorganized to enable new beginning” – he said.
For Cyprus, the rate is much higher than politics. The costs of disasters caused by climate change are huge and are growing – according to Theodoros Zachariadis, director of the Energy, Environment and Water Research Center at the Cypriot Institute, the lack of action may cost a country of up to 18 billion euros (PLN 76 billion) by 2050. He added that at that time food and electricity prices would rise and work efficiency would fall. Tourists will visit Cyprus less and less often.
Fighting fires
On Wednesday, the government started a help campaign for victims. Officials announced immediate financial assistance for people who lost their property or arable fields as a result of fires. They also allocated funds for the reconstruction of the key infrastructure.
Maria Panayotou, the Cypriot Minister of Rural Development and the Environment, informed Politico about the activities undertaken by the government in order to improve the protocol of conduct in the event of fires.
Fight with fires in Cyprus, Soundi, 24 July 2025.Etienne Torbey / AFP
The Forest Department has currently employs the most employees for years, and has also received additional fire equipment he applied for. For the first time in history, the government also undertakes new preventive measures, such as controlled grazing and burning.
Panayotou admitted, however, that “as the President of the Republic pointed out, we cannot be satisfied with the results.”
All departments involved in the fight against fires are currently preparing reports to be presented on Friday to assess what went wrong. “These reports will be made public and will constitute the basis for the necessary institutional and operational changes” – said Panayotou.
Documents will appear in an atmosphere of irritation. Inept fire management is not a new problem in Cyprus. “Among people, anger is growing” – said Theophanous, president of the Cypriot Center for European and International Affairs. He added that political parties, including the extreme right, “will try to use it.”
Ultimately, he said, this is a problem that reaches many years back.
“Subsequent governments did not do their homework,” he noted.
