Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Greece was “facing a natural disaster of unprecedented dimensions.”
As thousands of people have been evacuated from villages in Greece, other nations have rushed to their aid.
The EU said it was mobilizing “one of Europe’s biggest-ever common firefighting operations” to help Greece and other affected countries, such as Turkey, which is also suffering.
Cyprus, Greece’s neighbor, has sent in firefighters and fire-fighting aircraft. Meanwhile, Sweden volunteered two air tractor “Fire Bosses” on Wednesday. The aircraft can drop water on forest fires in order to drown them, and Sweden cooperated with the European Union “Resc-EU” program to send help.
What’s to blame? Bluntly put, it’s climate change. The Mediterranean nation is broiling under one of its worst heatwaves in decades.