Minister of Climate Change and Civil Protection Yannis Kefalogiannis, met with François-Noël Buffet, Minister Delegate to the Minister of State and Minister of the Interior of France, in Paris on Thursday. Kefalogiannis and Buffet signed a roadmap for cooperation on civil protection and climate crisis response.

Greek-French cooperation in civil protection focuses on the prevention and management of natural disasters, especially forest fires, and the exchange of know-how and best practices. Operational assistance, technical cooperation, and the potential acquisition of H215 helicopters from Airbus by Greece were also discussed.

Kefalogiannis presented Greece’s forest fire response plan, which incorporates technologies such as AI and drones. The two sides also exchanged views on the future of the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism.
During his official visit to Paris, Kefalogiannis also met with Julien Marion, Director General of Political Security and Crisis Management, and visited the French

Centre Interministériel de Crise (CIC) and the Centre opérationnel de gestion interministérielle des crises (COGIC), where he was briefed on the structure and functioning of France’s critical civil protection infrastructure.

(Photo: x.com/gkefalogiannis)