Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis led a government meeting at Megaro Maximou to coordinate relief measures, environmental restoration, and flood prevention following a major wildfire in Western Attica. The fire burned forest areas, destroyed properties, and disrupted local businesses, farming, and livestock operations.
The government plans to focus on state aid, restoring the natural environment, protecting vulnerable areas from flooding, and delivering compensations. Officials are working to assess the damage quickly to support affected residents and businesses.
Faster state aid procedures
The Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection will submit a new bill when Parliament reopens to accelerate and digitize state aid procedures. The proposed law aims to speed up damage declarations, document collection, inspections, and compensation payouts for households and businesses while reducing bureaucracy.
The plan is currently in the pre-legislative stage. Detailed eligibility requirements, necessary documentation, and application deadlines will appear in upcoming ministry announcements.
Financial support for workers and businesses
Employees at businesses affected by the wildfire can have their employment contracts suspended, receiving financial support of 534 euros for three months. Affected households and businesses will also receive a six-month suspension and settlement option for insurance contributions and tax obligations to ease financial pressure.
The relief package includes a 12-month suspension of foreclosures and auctions for affected individuals and legal entities. This measure aims to protect property owners from forced execution procedures during the initial recovery period.
Following discussions with local mayors, officials extended business support measures to Psatha and Alepochori. The extension targets areas where local economies rely heavily on tourism, catering, and seasonal trade, where evacuations, traffic restrictions, and visitor departures caused significant revenue losses even for undamaged businesses. Co-competent ministries will announce the specific criteria and required documents.
Support for farming and housing recovery
The government instructed the Greek Agricultural Insurance Organisation, known as ELGA, to proceed with compensation procedures for affected agricultural and livestock activities. Assessments will cover damage to crops, livestock, facilities, warehouses, equipment, and production infrastructure, with specific steps to be presented by ELGA and the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food.
Damage assessments for destroyed or damaged homes remain ongoing, and officials have not finalized the exact numbers. Mitsotakis said full mapping is expected within 48 hours and requested that people avoid reproducing premature estimates. Government funding for repairs and reconstruction will begin once inspections are complete, forming the basis for housing assistance and area boundaries.
Land mapping and flood prevention
Authorities are examining a total area of about 111,000 stremmata, including about 95,000 stremmata within the Attica Region and roughly 46,000 stremmata of forest land. The government clarified that unburned sections remain inside the perimeter, meaning the total area figure does not represent fully burned land prior to detailed mapping.
Anti-erosion and flood control projects will begin by September 15 at the latest, with a target completion date by the end of 2026. The works will focus on retaining soil and water on burned slopes to protect populated areas and infrastructure from heavy rainfall.
Officials also reviewed an initial evaluation of the Antinero prevention program, which spent about 20 million euros in Western Attica from 2022 to the present. The government estimated that these interventions helped limit the spread of the wildfire toward eastern and southern areas, and the Ministry of Environment and Energy will present detailed data later.
