Athens, July 3 (TIWN) A group of 28 Romanian firefighters was welcomed by Greek authorities in Athens during the launch of a European pilot programme for forest protection against fire this summer, Greek national news agency AMNA reported.

Under the programme, a total of 200 firefighters from six countries across Europe (Bulgaria, France, Germany, Romania, Norway and Finland) will be positioned in Greece this July and August to assist in fire protection efforts and exchange know-how with their Greek colleagues, according to an e-mailed press release of the Ministry for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection on Saturday.

The programme is implemented through the European Civil Protection Mechanism in the wake of last year's destructive wildfires in Greece, which scorched more than 100,000 hectare of forestry and farmland and damaged nearly 2,000 houses and businesses, Xinhua news agency reported.