Greece has received 12 aircraft so far from the European Union to help fight the largest wildfires in the bloc since records began in 2000, the European Commission said on Tuesday.
The 11 planes and one helicopter, up from eight last week, from Croatia, Sweden, Spain, Cyprus, Germany and Sweden, have helped Greek firefighters tackle wildfires covering over 81,000 hectares.
In addition, six European countries have contributed six ground forest fire fighting teams via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, a platform to coordinate and share emergency resources.
It is the second time Greece received help to fight wildfires this summer. The bloc's largest aerial firefighting operation shows a commitment to "effective collective action," European Crisis Commissioner Janez Lenarčič said.
Hundreds of firefighters were on Tuesday still trying to put out the flames that have been raging along the Greek-Turkish border for 11 days.
Some 475 firefighters were at work, using six planes and four helicopters.
They are also now using a converted Leopard battle tank, brought specially to the region from central Greece, Skai news showed. The tank, with capacity for 15,000 litres of water, was also kitted out with a shovel for rough terrain and a rescue chamber for 10 people.
Moderate winds were still fanning the flames in the region, rekindling the fires in many places.
The compensation process has also begun for local residents, according to news channel ERTNews.
Wildfires are also still raging in the Parnitha mountains north-west of Athens and on the islands of Andros and Euboea.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis led a crisis meeting about firefighting and reforestation.
The forest areas that burned down in north-eastern Greece and north-west of Athens are to be reforested immediately, the prime minister's office said.
In addition, immediate steps are to be taken to mitigate against flooding of the scorched areas this winter. This includes clearing rivers of debris and implementing protection measures from high water.
The soil in burned areas often cannot absorb even moderate amounts of rain, resulting in flash floods.
Greece's parliament is also planning to discuss the severe fires next Thursday.
A "high" warning for the danger of forest fires is still in place for many parts of Greece, issued by the Civil Defence. The alert covers much of the Peloponnese peninsula, the Attica region around Athens, the Cyclades islands and Crete.
The fire brigade, police and military are patrolling these areas by ground and air, to try and spot new fires as early as possible, Kathimerini newspaper reported.
