06/09/2021 (Agence Europe) – On Monday 6 September, the Greek government appointed a Minister for Civil Protection for the first time, and the former EU Commissioner for Crisis Management, Greek Cypriot Chrystos Stylianides, was named to the post, Reuters news agency reported on Monday. The appointment follows criticism of the Greek authorities for their poor management of the devastating forest fires this summer. Mr Stylianides was Commissioner for Crisis Management from 2014 to 2019, during which time the European Commission set up RescEU, the strategic equipment reserve of the EU’s Civil Protection Mechanism. Since then, the institution has strengthened both the EU Civil Protection Mechanism and RescEU (see EUROPE 12745/22, 12717/29). (AN)