On April 20 and 21, 2026, Lieutenant General Vlček, the Director General of the Fire Rescue Service of the Czech Republic, and Colonel Richard Franc, the Head of the Integrated Rescue System Department of the Fire Rescue Service of the Moravian-Silesian Region, visited Athens, Greece. The aim of their visit was the bilateral exchange of experience in the field of fire rescue systems and strengthening cooperation.

In the past few years, Czech firefighters were helping the Greeks with extinguishing extensive summer forest fires. Last year, for the first time they became part of the “EU Prepositioning” program. In 2025, two detachments of the Czech fire brigade had their base in Nea Makri, near Athens, where the most modern Greek training centre is also located. General Vlček visited this centre during his trip and held talks with the Director of Training, Fire Lieutenant Colonel Panagiotis Kaldellis, as well as with the contact officer for EU Prepositioning in Greece, Fire Lieutenant Colonel Vasilis Bikas, and with the Deputy Chief of the Hellenic Fire Service, Fire Lieutenant General Anastasios Pappas. They discussed further cooperation in the field of firefighter training and education, for example through the Erasmus+ program or other European alternatives. The Director General of the Czech Fire Rescue Service also mentioned the possibility of cooperation with the VSB –Technical University of Ostrava. The Greek counterparts expressed great interest in sharing experience in the fields of radiation, chemical and biological protection, which is an area in which the Czech Republic has long specialization. Within the framework of EU Prepositioning, the Czech firefighters will come to Greece this year as well; a twenty-two-member firefighting team should operate around the industrial area of the Port of Patras in the Peloponnese from mid-July to mid-August 2026.

During their deployments in Greece, the Czech firefighters frequently use a wide range of specialized Czech technologies, from Tatra vehicles equipped with firefighting features made by companies such as THT Polička or KOBIT–THZ, along with specialized pumps from ZHT, to protective clothing and additional equipment by companies such as DEVA-FM, Holík International, GoodPRO, Lanex, and Technolen. This is why the Czech Embassy in Athens initiated a project to create a Catalogue of Czech Firefighting Equipment within the framework of the PROPED project designed to support the Czech exporters. The project materialized in cooperation with the Czech Fire Rescue Service, CzechTrade agency and the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic. The catalogue features 24 Czech companies literally tested by fire and is available below for download in Greek. We hope that the catalogue will assist the Greek firefighters to navigate in the Czech technologies, particularly in the context of the current modernization programme of the Greek Fire Service, “Aegis,” worth more than two billion euros. Additionally, the Greeks will be able to see some of the listed products in action during the upcoming summer deployment of Czech firefighters in the Peloponnese.

General Vlček also held talks at the Greek Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, under whose authority the Hellenic Fire Service operates. Accompanied by the Deputy Fire Chief Mr. Pappas, he met with Mr. Tasos Michalopoulos, the Director of the National Crisis Coordination Center, and Mr. Asterios Tsiourvas, the Director of the Fire Service Administrative Support Section. General Vlček introduced the Czech Fire Rescue Service and the fundamental principles of the Czech Integrated Rescue System, to the Greek colleagues. He also presented the above-mentioned catalogue and his personal experience with the deployment of specific technologies. The Greek firefighters appreciated that the catalogue was available in Greek language and expressed their interest to learn more about some of the products. General Pappas reminded the possibility to participate in the annual civil protection technology fair in Athens, “Inter Aigis.” At the end of the visit, the head of the Czech Fire Rescue Service answered various questions from their Greek colleagues regarding the Czech best practices and the Czech firefighting equipment and toured the National Coordination Centre and the operations centre of crisis line 112.

CZECH FIREFIGHTING EQUIPMENT & TECHNOLOGY - catalog in English (PDF, 5 MB)

General Vlček introduced the Czech Fire Rescue Service and the Integrated Rescue System to his Greek counterparts (Colonel Franc on the left)

Colonel Franc introduced the Deputy Chief of the Greek Fire Service, Ltn. Gen. Pappas to the catalogue of Czech firefighting technologies, many of which are already well known in Greece from the deployment of Czech firefighters

From the meeting at the Greek Ministry for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection (from left: Greek Deputy Fire Chief Pappas,  Director of the Administrative Support Section Tsiurvas, Czech Ambassador Ivo Šilhavý, Director General of the Czech Fire Rescue Service Vlček, Colonel Franc and Director of the National Coordination Centre Michalopulos)