Agriculture Min. in Thessaly today due to the impending weather phenomena

Due to the impending weather conditions, the Minister of Rural Development and Food, Lefteris Avgenakis, will go to Thessaly again today, where he will stay for the next few days.

Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski, who at the invitation of the Minister of Rural Development and Food Lefteris Avgenakis was to visit on Wednesday the areas of Thessaly, hit by the storm Daniel, due to the new severe weather front, for technical reasons and on the recommendation of the Army Air Force (he was going to fly by helicopter over the affected areas), postpones his visit to Greece. The visit of the European Commissioner for Agriculture will take place as soon as conditions permit.

Support from the EU

Meanwhile, Mr. Avgenakis last week asked for practical support from his counterparts in the European Union, following the recent devastating floods in Thessaly.

In his statements during the meeting of the Council of Ministers of Agriculture and Fisheries of the EU, Mr. Avgenakis emphasized that the floods caused enormous damage to agricultural production and infrastructure in Thessaly, which is one of the most important rural areas of the country.

In particular, Mr. Avgenakis stated that the floods covered 858,000 hectares of agricultural land, of which 23% concerns plant production and 18% livestock. At the same time, more than 120,000 goats, sheep, cattle and pigs, 176,000 birds and rabbits and 100,000 bee colonies were destroyed.

In this context, Mr. Avgenakis asked the EU to become more flexible, more adaptive and more effective in the management of natural disasters. At the same time, he asked the Commissioner for Agriculture Janus Wojciechowski and his counterparts from the EU member states’ ministers to immediately plan a visit to Thessaly to see for themselves the disasters and difficulties faced by the inhabitants of the region.