European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday offered 400 million euros from the bloc’s solidarity fund as part of a package to help flood-hit Slovenia. And she made it clear that, in her view, climate change had played a role in the disaster. Four Slovenians and two Dutch tourists died in last week’s flooding, which also flooded tens of thousands of houses.
“We will make accessible 400 million euros, 100 million of them still this year and 300 million euros next year” from the solidarity fund, von der Leyen told reporters after touring affected areas.
“It was heartbreaking to see the devastation that the rain and the flooding and the mudslides have caused,” von der Leyen said. Slovenia could also request 2.7 billion euros from the EU’s “Next Generation” fund, she said. In addition, 3.3 billion euros of cohesion funds already allocated to the country until 2027 could be repurposed. Von der Leyen was speaking at a joint news conference with Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob.
“Several tens of thousands of houses have been flooded and several thousands of families are in despair today wondering how they will survive the next weeks and months,” Golob said.
He urged the EU Commission to release the funds as soon as possible. Golob has described rains and flooding that hit two-thirds of the Alpine country of two million as its worst natural disaster since independence over three decades ago.
Source: eNCA
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