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Greece is searching for scapegoats as Europe’s largest wildfire spins out of control.
On Monday, firefighters struggled for a 10th consecutive day to contain flames ravaging the northeastern Evros region, where multiple blazes have formed a deadly inferno.
Authorities say the initial fire near the port town of Alexandropoulis was likely sparked by lightning. But while anger grows over insufficient prevention efforts and emergency services beg for reinforcements, much of Greece is preoccupied with finding someone to blame.
Leading Greek politicians have sought to focus the nation’s attention on catching arsonists, with some even spreading conspiracy theories about who set the fires.
Vassilis Kikilias, minister for civil protection, blamed “lowlife arsonists” for the fires in a furious televised speech last week.
“You are committing a crime against the country, you will not get away with it, we will find you, you will be held accountable,” he said.
With more than 770 square kilometers razed — an area roughly the size of New York City — the Evros fire is the biggest blaze the European Forest Fire Information Service (EFFIS) has ever recorded since it began collecting data in the year 2000.
It’s only one of several wildfires currently burning in Greece. Across the country, the fires have ravaged vast swaths of land — more than 1,500 square kilometers this year so far, according to EFFIS. At least 20 people died.
The destruction is a stark reminder of the threat climate change poses to the country: The Mediterranean region is becoming hotter and drier as the planet warms, making it easier for fires to spread.
“We must continue strengthening national [and] collective prevention and preparedness efforts in view of more brutal fire seasons,” Janez Lenarčič, the EU’s crisis commissioner, warned last week in response to the Evros fire.
Experts say European countries have to step up forest management in particular, as fires spread particularly quickly through large tracts of dry vegetation. Yet while Greece’s government has acknowledged it needs to boost preventive efforts, its response in recent weeks has been to look for scapegoats.
Most fires in the EU ignite due to human behavior — whether intentional or not. But the emphasis on what sparked the fires has drawn criticism from experts.
Víctor Resco de Dios, professor of forest science at Spain’s University of Lleida, said focusing on who or what started the fire allows governments to “blame the fires on individuals” rather than policy failures.
“Whereas if the discussion is around what made the fire spread, then we’d need to talk about who’s responsible for managing forests — and in this case, the blame could be on politicians,” he added. “This is why the debate is often quickly shifted away from forest management to what caused the ignition.”
Across Greece, the fires — and the political focus on finding culprits — are stoking existing tensions.
In Evros, locals have pointed the finger at migrants and refugees; the region, close to the Turkish border, is a frequent transit point for those seeking a better life in the European Union.
“We are at war,” said Paris Papadakis, a lawmaker from the far-right Greek Solution party who represents Evros. “They’ve come here in a coordinated way and the illegal migrants specifically set fire to over 10 places,” he claimed.
Several newspapers ran incendiary headlines blaming migrants.
Some locals literally hunted for scapegoats, in one case locking 13 asylum-seekers they accused of arson in a van. The Alexandroupolis prosecutor’s office charged the 13 people with attempted arson; they were later released. Their capturers are awaiting trial.
Greek Solution’s president, Kyriakos Velopoulos, last week also blamed “illegal immigrants” for the fires. Last month, he sought to build on existing opposition to wind power by blaming turbines — the conspiracy theory that land is burnt to make way for wind farms is widespread in Greece.
Greece has arrested dozens of suspected arsonists in recent weeks, but many of them were later released.
Three out of four people detained last Thursday were released, for example. Lighters found in their possession, considered incriminating evidence, were not working, while suspicious sprays turned out to be just car deodorants. The fourth suspect is a person with serious psychological issues, according to local media.
So far, no one — neither local nor migrant — has been convicted of starting fires around Evros. But authorities are fairly certain that most of the fire’s victims are migrants and refugees who hid in the woods.
Pavlos Pavlidis, the Alexandropoulis coroner, told Greek media that two of the 18 charred bodies in the region last week were children.
“They were all found in groups of two or three people at a distance of 500 meters,” he said, “apparently while trying to escape.”
CORRECTION: This article has been updated to correct the area burned by wildfires in Greece this summer. It is 1,500 square kilometers.