BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The EU will make at least 400 million euros ($439.16 million) available to Slovenia after devastating floods there killed at least six people and affected tens of thousands of households, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday.
Thousands of people have been evacuated from homes around northwest and central Slovenia, with the army, firefighters and rescuers trying to free others and clear streets.
“We have a good package of immediate support, of medium term and long term support for Slovenia”, Von der Leyen told a joint press conference with Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob on a visit to a flood-hit area.
She said the country can also seek help from the Next Generation EU fund, which has 2.7 billion euros available for Slovenia, and added that 3.3 billion euros in other EU funds already allocated to Slovenia can be repurposed for immediate support after the floods.
“Dozens of thousands of houses have been hit by flooding and now dozens of thousands of people are thinking how to survive the next weeks and months,” Golob said.
“Our message to them is clear – the help will be quick, efficient and nobody will be forgotten.”
($1 = 0.9108 euros)
(Reporting by Charlotte Van Campenhout, Daria Sito-Sucic, Editing by William Maclean)
