THE CHIEF FIRE MARSHAL CARETAKER NATIONAL CO-ORDINATOR - LAST YEAR'S LESSON CHANGED THE DATA - Filenews 9/3 by Michalis Chatzivasilis
Plans are progressing rapidly regarding the better treatment of fires this summer, so that we do not have last year's tragedies. The changes promoted by the Government are at the level of legislation and individuals.
According to information from "F", the moves made by the Ministries of Interior and Justice are at an advanced stage and already relevant bills that provide for the establishment of a National Civil Protection Mechanism as well as the institution of the National Coordinator, are being processed to be sent to the Parliament for voting. A relevant announcement of the institution of Civil Protection was made by President Christodoulidis last September. With the establishment of the National Civil Protection Mechanism, it is estimated that the fragmentation of responsibilities will end and ensure that Cyprus acquires a strong, unified and fully coordinated crisis prevention and response mechanism, capable of responding immediately and effectively to modern challenges.
However, until the bills are passed and the duties and powers of the Coordinator are defined, temporary plans are being made so that this summer we do not have issues of lack of coordination and responsibility, as they have always appeared among the co-competent services responsible for extinguishing fires.
Thus, according to our same information, it has been decided that the role of coordinator for the fires for this summer, will be taken over by the chief fire chief of the Fire Service, Nikos Longinos. Until now, the role of coordinator for the fires was assigned to the general director of the Ministry of Agriculture, Andreas Grigoriou. This role, as we mentioned, will be temporary, until the institutional framework of the National Civil Protection Mechanism exists. Contacts have already been made with Mr. Longinos, who in the event of a major fire, will take on the role of main coordinator between the Fire Service and the Forestry Department. In this way, discussions about who has the responsibility of coordination and whether a fire falls within the scope of action of the Fire Brigade or the Department of Forests will end. In fact, the replacement of Mr. Longinos has been found in the Fire Brigade, when he will take over the duties of coordinator, who will be one of the assistant directors (fire chief) Christoforos Stylianou.
The relevant decision on the appointment of Mr. Longinos as Coordinator for the fires will soon be taken by the Council of Ministers following a proposal that will be presented, so that it is ready for the new fire season that begins in May. As it became clear last year from the deadly fire in Malia, there were huge gaps in coordination between the Civil Defense, the Police, the Fire Brigade and the Department of Forests, as a result of which we mourned lives and property, even though it was considered that the speed of its expansion was what made it uncontrollable for days.
Georgios Tzitzikostas in the role of the National Coordinator
At the same time, according to our relevant information, when the Parliament votes on the legislative framework for the establishment of the Civil Protection body, under the umbrella of which the Fire Service, the Department of Forests related to the fires and the Civil Defense will be placed, the National Coordinator has also been identified.
This is the former Chief of the National Guard Georgios Tzitzikostas, who took over the reins of the NGS in 2023 and left last year. He is considered a person who possesses the knowledge and skills for the position and has been tested in last year's great fire in Limassol, since the National Guard was in charge of the firefighting helicopters.
It is noted that the Council of Ministers, during its meeting on September 17, 2025, decided to establish a National Civil Protection Mechanism and to consolidate critical functions of the state to effectively deal with fires, natural disasters and other crises. The President of the Republic had stressed that the goal is to put an end to the scattered operation of the competent services and to create a modern, coordinated and effective mechanism, based on international and European standards, underlining that the State responds to the challenges of climate change and shields the safety of citizens.
Within the framework of the decision of the Cabinet, the Ministry of Interior was renamed to Ministry of Interior and Civil Protection to which the following are transferred:
> The Fire Service (from the Ministry of Justice and Public Order).
> The staff of the Department of Forests who are involved in forest protection actions (prevention, preparedness, suppression).
> The Department of Civil Defence.
At the same time, in this decision there was a proposal for the creation of the position of National Coordinator, who will be appointed by the Council of Ministers. The National Coordinator will have the general coordination of all the Services that will be transferred to the Ministry of Interior, including the Civil Defense, for issues of dealing with natural and other disasters. That is, the National Coordinator will coordinate efforts to extinguish large fires, to deal with natural disasters, earthquakes and other natural disasters. Following a recommendation by the Minister of the Interior approved by the Council of Ministers, the position of Director General of Civil Protection in the Ministry of the Interior will be created, for the supervision of all services that will be transferred to the Ministry of the Interior, as well as the Directorate of Civil Protection. In this way, all dispersed services will now operate under a single operations center, centrally designed and coordinated, under the supervision of the Minister of Interior and Civil Protection and under the high supervision of the President of the Republic.
Efforts from 2023
The creation of the National Civil Protection Mechanism is the next step in a reform path that began in October 2023, when the European Commission's Directorate for Reforms (DG REFORM) approved the funding of the project "Reform, development and strengthening of the civil protection system in Cyprus", which is implemented with technical support from the French Agency Expertise France.
Based on the recommendations of the Expertise France report, the first steps for the development of the Mechanism and the strengthening of the responsibilities of the Civil Defence had already been approved in June 2025. In the context of the new decision, all Special National and Operational Plans for natural disasters will be updated, in order to meet modern conditions and needs, and to be part of the new institutional framework that is being created.
