Greece will receive up to €2.25 billion ($2.4 billion) in EU funds in its effort to recover from last week’s devastating floods, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Tuesday.
“I am simply appalled by the recent disaster that has struck Greece and its people,” she said at a press conference with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who is in Strasbourg with a delegation of ministers, meeting with European officials to discuss support measures for the country.
“Europe stands at the side of the Greek people,” she said.
“A lot of investment will be necessary to rebuild, but right now a lot of immediate support and help is needed to restore the livelihoods,” von der Leyen said. “We will mobilize all the EU resources that can be deployed.”
The European funds would come from unspent and front-loaded cohesion money, from the European Social Fund Plus and from the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) fund.
A week after the passing of Storm Daniel, which claimed the lives of at least 16 people and caused destruction in central Greece, Thessaly, the agricultural heartland of the country, remains flooded.
In a similar vein, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola stressed that “Greece should not be alone in dealing with a situation that should be addressed by Europe as a whole.”
“In the worst moments, the Greeks must see the best face of Europe,” she said on Tuesday during a meeting with Mitsotakis.
“As far as the budget and resources are concerned, any decision that needs to be taken by the parliament will be taken as soon as possible. Because we know that this is a major disaster linked to the climate crisis and requires unprecedented efficiency and assistance,” Metsola added.
EU emergency support for Greece fires, floods
Greece will receive assistance from the EU emergency support fund for natural disasters over the summer European Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni said.
He explained that the EU has an emergency fund for the support of regions coping with natural disasters, the European Union Solidarity Fund, to which member-states have three months to submit an estimate of the economic damage sustained.
“I am certain that the European Commission will endeavor to support through this emergency support fund and not only that, Greece’s efforts to deal with this new crisis,” he said.
Pointing out that Greece had to deal with both destructive wildfires and floods during the summer, he noted that such phenomena indicated the extreme weather crisis Europe now faces.
Asked how soon the EU financial assistance will be disbursed, Gentiloni said that some funds will be available from the current year but in a more restricted way, with more substantial assistance the following year.