An Agrarian Force Before the Flames: A Greek Blueprint for Europe’s Wildfire Prevention Strategy
With changing weather conditions throughout Europe and the world, with increasingly more extreme and unstable winters and scorching and prolonged summers, the risk of fires across Europe is increasing, especially in its fire-prone regions. Ninety-six percent of fires in Europe already result from some sort of intentional or accidental human activity, but the risks that climate change poses with increasingly dry conditions paired with overgrown rural territories leads to the chance that these fires will last for days or even weeks, burning millions to billions of euros worth of property, killing hundreds and traumatizing an equal amount, and destroying agricultural industries ever more frequently. Fires can unfortunately also serve various personal and political purposes through arson, as shown by a woman in Greece setting fires because “she enjoyed watching firefighters and flirting with them” and the mafia setting fires for control and financial gain in Italy.
Considering the destructive effects and potential of wildfires, and the incentives some malicious actors have in setting them, the EU and its Member States must act promptly to establish fire prevention policies to deter the start of fires, aside from and in addition to existing measures which focus primarily on stopping the spread of active fires and remedying the damage and effects they cause after the fact. Given the human casualties and economic losses caused by destructive fires in Europe each year, investment in such preventative capacity could be understood as a long-term financial measure, reducing the costs that would otherwise be incurred through recurring emergency response, property damage, ecological destruction, and post-fire recovery. While there are other fire prevention tactics Member States can, and should, employ—like fire breaks and controlled burns to mitigate the potential spread of fires—having a body or force entirely dedicated to agrarian security modeled on the Agrofylaki could provide a continuous, localized presence capable of enforcing sustainable land use and deterring harmful practices which could lead to destructive ecological effects and catastrophic wildfires, especially in rural areas. The Agrofylaki was not a force exclusively dedicated to fire prevention. Rather, it operated with a holistic mandate to safeguard the maintenance, sustainability, and integrity of land under its watch, before its devolution during the Cold War. While not its exclusive purpose, fire prevention was an additional benefit to the force’s objective in deterring public and private land degradation, neglect, misuse, and abuse.
The EU has both the funds and the capacity to create such a group. While sovereignty issues are central on whether the Union can make an authoritative force acting within the Member States, precedent on the European Parliament’s and Council’s interpretation of its authority to create cooperation and cross border mechanisms exist—especially with Frontex which deals with law enforcement and border security on the peripheries of the EU, which are the borders of its various Member States. Should the EU not be able to make an agrarian force on its own, then it ought to create policies to encourage, train, supply, fund, and generally assist national Member State efforts to create similar bodies to create a stronger and safer Europe.
Recommended Citation: Panayotis (Baki) Giorgos Agelarakis, An Agrarian Force Before the Flames: A Greek Blueprint for Europe’s Wildfire Prevention Strategy, 49 Fordham Int'l L.J. 1307 (2026).