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Ljubljana/Strasbourg – The Slovenian government announced that it will assist the countries of Central and Southeastern Europe, which have been hit by floods these days, with special flood intervention units or material aid amounting to up to 600,000 euros. Material aid has already been sent to the Czech Republic.
Slovenia, which itself received great solidarity from other EU members during the devastating floods last August, sent 260 dehumidifiers to the Czech Republic through the union’s civil protection mechanism on Wednesday, the Slovenian Ministry of Defense announced.
The Slovenian humanitarian organizations Red Cross and Caritas have also started collecting aid. The Red Cross of Slovenia has donated 25,000 euros from its solidarity fund to the national Red Cross societies of Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Romania.
As the European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič stated in the debate in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, the floods have affected nearly two million people.
“This tragedy is not an anomaly, it has become the norm for our future,” he warned, advocating for greater protection against such disasters. “Every euro invested in disaster prevention and preparedness usually pays off in the form of prevented losses, response costs, and other benefits,” said the outgoing European Commissioner from Slovenia.
European MPs, among them predominantly those from the union members most severely affected by the floods, called for solidarity and assistance in the debate. Slovenian MEPs Marjan Šarec (Renew/Svoboda) and Matjaž Nemec (S&D/SD) also spoke, reminding of the EU solidarity during last year’s floods in Slovenia. (September 18)