site.btaAgriculture Minister Discusses Impact of Climate Change During Visit to Greece

Bulgaria's Agriculture and Food Minister Kiril Vatev said countries should pool their efforts to address the impact of climate change, which is accelerating and the arising problems are not local. September saw simultaneous floods in Bulgaria, Greece, Turkiye and Spain, he told Greek media.

Vatev is paying a two-day visit to Greece at the invitation of Rural Development and Food Minister Eleftherios Avgenakis, Bulgaria's Agriculture Ministry said on Thursday.

Vatev and Avgenakis visited Thessaly. The region, which is known as Greece's breadbasket, suffered damage from Cyclone Ianos in 2020 and from Storm Daniel this last September.

The delegation to Thessaly included Cyprus's Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment Petros Xenophontos and Malta's Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Animal Rights Anton Refalo. The Greek Minister, Eleftherios Avgenakis, talked about the measures taken to deal with the consequences of the devastating floods.

The ministers visited Lake Karla, which was drained in 1962 to gain land for agriculture, but was restored for irrigation and water supply purposes. They also visited a dairy factory in Nea Lefki which sustained flood damage.

Nearly one million hectares of land were flooded in Thessaly in 2023, three times more than in 2020, the Agriculture Ministry said.