The Greek Minister of Citizen Protection Notis Mitarakis resigned Friday, July 28 "for personal reasons", announced this Friday, in a statement, the services of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, while the country is facing violent fires.
His resignation would be linked to the fact that he was on holiday in recent days while Greece is on a war footing in the face of fires, according to sources in the Prime Minister's Office.
The announcement comes a month after general elections in the country and the re-election of Kyriakos Mitsotakis' conservative New Democracy party.
Replaced by former Conservative government critic
Notis Mitarakis will be replaced by Yannis Oikonomou, 49, a former spokesman for the conservative government during his first term (July 2019 - May 2023), currently a member of parliament for New Democracy.
Migration Minister in the first conservative term, Notis Mitarakis, 50, had followed a strict migration policy, with Greece repeatedly accused of turning back migrants, which the government has always denied.
Greece has been facing major fires for two weeks, fanned by strong winds and scorching temperatures. The disasters have so far killed five people and about 50,000 hectares of forest and scrubland have gone up in flames.