Press release · Municipality of Apokoronas

Apokoronas Mayor demands PM Mitsotakis halt 52.8 MW wind farm plan near Asi Gonia

October 12, 2026 Original source ↗ Verified source

Summary

Apokoronas Mayor Charalampos Koukianakis has written an open letter to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis demanding he personally intervene to withdraw a planned 52.8 MW wind farm near Asi Gonia in the White Mountains of Crete. The municipal council voted unanimously against the project, which sits close to Lake Kournas and the Azilaka forest, and the mayor warns that the cumulative impact of energy infrastructure in the area threatens irreversible environmental damage. Koukianakis also invites the prime minister — who was in Chania at the time — to visit the area and see for himself what is at stake.

Apokoronas Mayor Urges PM to Personally Block Wind Farm in the White Mountains

A forceful open letter from Apokoronas Mayor Charalampos Koukianakis to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has put one of Crete's most scenic mountain areas at the centre of a national debate about renewable energy and landscape protection. Writing on October 12, 2026, Koukianakis calls on the prime minister to step in and halt the environmental licensing process for a proposed 52.8 MW wind farm near Asi Gonia — a village in the White Mountains with deep historical roots and exceptional natural surroundings.

The Project and Where It Stands

On October 7, 2026, the Environmental Impact Assessment for the wind farm was published and the public consultation period began. The proposed site lies in the hills above Asi Gonia, in the broader area that also encompasses Lake Kournas — the only natural freshwater lake in Crete — and the Azilaka forest, both considered vital parts of the Apokoronas natural landscape.

The mayor stresses that this wind farm is not the only energy project bearing down on the region. The planned routing of a high-voltage power line from Chania to Damasta also passes through the same area, raising concerns about the combined, cumulative impact of multiple infrastructure projects on a single sensitive environment.

A Unanimous Vote Against

The Apokoronas municipal council did not wait. An extraordinary session was convened, and councillors voted unanimously to oppose the wind farm. The municipality's position, as stated by the mayor, rests on three pillars: protecting the natural environment, preserving the character of the area, and safeguarding the quality of life of local residents.

A Personal Challenge to the Prime Minister

What gives the letter its particular weight is the personal dimension Koukianakis introduces. He reminds Mitsotakis that his late father, Konstantinos Mitsotakis, had a documented love for the White Mountains and the Asi Gonia area specifically. And he quotes the prime minister's own words: in January 2022, at the launch of the "Apatita Vouna" (Untouched Mountains) initiative, Mitsotakis spoke publicly about hiking with his father in the White Mountains and about the importance of keeping them protected. In July 2025, he reiterated that while renewable energy is necessary, it should not be built everywhere, and that the burden on the landscape could become excessive.

"How will we justify to the next generations that we declared the protection of the mountains, but did not exhaust every possibility to protect yet another precious mountain area of Crete?" the mayor asks.

What Is at Risk

The mayor sets out in detail what could be lost if the project proceeds:

Wildlife and biodiversity: the area is home to sensitive ecosystems and important bird populations
Water resources: including Lake Kournas
Forest cover: particularly the Azilaka forest
Landscape and cultural heritage: Asi Gonia is historically associated with fighters from the Cretan resistance
Tourism and local economy: dependent on the unspoiled natural character of the area

Koukianakis argues that projects cannot be assessed in isolation. The law, he says, requires an examination of cumulative impacts — all the interventions together, their combined effect on ecosystems, biodiversity, water, and the livelihoods of the people who live there.

The Demand: Withdraw the Project and Visit the Area

The mayor closes with two concrete requests. First, he calls on the prime minister to instruct the relevant ministries and authorities to immediately withdraw the planned wind energy project. Second, noting that Mitsotakis was in Chania on October 12, he personally invites him to visit the threatened area alongside the Apokoronas municipal authority, so that he can see first-hand what is at stake before any decisions become irreversible.

"The green transition cannot become an alibi for every development site," Koukianakis writes. "Clean energy production is necessary, but where it is built must respect ecological limits, the landscape, cultural heritage, and the communities that are asked to bear the consequences."

Official source

Source translation

Machine-translated from the official source document.

Press Release – OPEN LETTER to the Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic, Mr Kyriakos Mitsotakis, from the Mayor of Apokoronas, Charalampos Koukianakis

October 12, 2026, 9:30 AM

Time for personal intervention to protect the White Mountains, Asi Gonia, the Azilaka forest and the wider area of Lake Kournas

Dear Prime Minister,

I address this open letter to you in my capacity as Mayor of Apokoronas, but above all with the responsibility of a person who has a duty to defend his homeland, its natural heritage, and the right of future generations to receive it alive and intact.

I address you publicly, because what is at stake is the future of a unique natural landscape of Crete, the protection of the White Mountains, and the credibility of the state itself with respect to its commitments on environmental protection.

In Asi Gonia of the Municipality of Apokoronas, an environmental licensing process is under way for a wind power station with a capacity of 52.8 MW. The publication of the Environmental Impact Study and the start of the public consultation, announced on October 7, 2026, place the state and the local community before critical decisions.

Our Municipal Authority did not remain idle: we convened an extraordinary Municipal Council and, with a unanimous decision, expressed our opposition to the prospect of installing wind turbines in Asi Gonia. Our position is clear and is based on the need to protect the natural environment, the character of the area and the quality of life of our residents.

Dear Prime Minister, we are talking about the White Mountains, about Asi Gonia, about a place that is not measured in acres and megawatts, but in history, memory, struggles, natural wealth and dignity.

In this wider area, with Lake Kournas and the Azilaka forest constituting precious elements of the natural stock of Apokoronas, the prospect of large-scale energy installations — which in combination with the monuments of the area — causes reasonable and deep concern, particularly since the wider area is already burdened by energy infrastructure, including the planned routing of the high-voltage line Chania–Damasta.

It is not permissible to evaluate each project in isolation, as if nothing exists around it. We are obliged to examine the totality of interventions, their cumulative impact on the landscape and on ecosystems, the effects on biodiversity, on forest areas, on birdlife, on water resources, on the local economy and on the prospects for sustainable development of the area.

We demand that there be no decision, no action that will lead to irreversible environmental alteration.

Dear Prime Minister, there is, however, a deeper dimension to this matter, which concerns you personally.

Your late father, Konstantinos Mitsotakis, had a particular love for the mountains of Crete and the White Mountains, and especially those of Asi Gonia. His relationship with the Cretan landscape and his concern for its preservation have been publicly recorded. And you yourself, speaking on January 21, 2022, at the presentation of the "Apatita Vouna" (Untouched Mountains) initiative, referred to your hikes with him in the White Mountains and to the importance of their protection.

At that time, Prime Minister, you spoke of an environmental policy, of a legacy and of the need to set limits on the interventions that alter the character of our mountains. Of the responsibility not to turn every natural space into a field of construction and energy activities.

And on July 16, 2025, you repeated that we need renewable energy sources, but not everywhere, acknowledging that the burden on the landscape can become excessively great.

I therefore put to you a simple but essential question: how will we justify to the next generations that we proclaimed the protection of the mountains, but did not exhaust every possibility to protect yet another precious mountain area of Crete?

The "Apatita Vouna" initiative constitutes an important institutional choice for the protection of specific areas, with defined boundaries and a special regime. The inclusion of the White Mountains in this initiative does not automatically mean that every location of the wider mountain range, every area of Asi Gonia or every planned project is covered by the same prohibitions.

Dear Prime Minister,

The green transition cannot be turned into an alibi for every siting decision. The production of clean energy is necessary, but its siting must respect ecological limits, the landscape, cultural heritage and the communities that are asked to bear the consequences.

The state cannot ask citizens to trust its environmental commitments while leaving unanswered critical questions about the cumulative burden on such a sensitive natural space.

We cannot speak of sustainable development if we risk undermining the very comparative advantages of our area: its natural beauty, its authenticity, its biodiversity and the harmonious coexistence of humanity and nature.

And above all, we cannot ask local communities to accept faits accomplis when a heritage is at stake that does not belong exclusively to the current generation.

Asi Gonia is a place with deep historical roots, with people who kept the tradition alive, with fighters and military leaders who were connected with the struggles of Crete and Greece for freedom and dignity.

Truly, what would the military leaders of Asi Gonia say today, if they saw the place for which they fought at risk of irreversibly altering its character?

And what would your father feel — who loved the White Mountains so much — if he saw the natural heritage that he himself considered precious being put at risk?

He would be turning in his grave!

I invoke their memory because political responsibility is not exhausted in the observance of procedures — it is also judged by what we choose to protect when there is still time to prevent an irreversible loss.

For this reason I call upon you to personally take the initiative and to request from the competent Ministries and services the immediate withdrawal of the planned wind energy project.

Dear Prime Minister, today, as you are in Chania, I invite you to personally visit the area in question accompanied by the Municipal Authority of Apokoronas, so that you may see close up the place that is threatened and gain a full picture of the serious environmental impacts that the planned installation of wind turbines may bring about. Your presence will constitute a meaningful opportunity to determine for yourself what is at stake for the White Mountains and the natural heritage of Crete, before decisions are taken that may prove irreversible.