Overview

• About 45,000 hectares have burned since January, according to the national meteorological office, and the fire season is still underway.
• Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said many recent blazes stem from human actions ranging from negligence to deliberate arson.
• New penalties eliminate probation and sentence conversion, allow asset seizure, and impose fines up to €30,000 or €200,000 for gross negligence.
• Recent investigations include a Lesbos suspect who confessed to four ignitions and three young men arrested following a major fire near Patras.
• Authorities also cite accidental and infrastructure-linked causes, with workers detained in a Corinth case and reports of corroded power cables near Athens; one death and extensive losses have been confirmed.