Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will be in Strasbourg on Tuesday with a delegation of ministers to meet with European Union officials for emergency aid following the deadly floods in Greece.
At 09:30 (local time), Mitsotakis will meet with European Parliament President Roberta Metsola.
At 10:30, Mitsotakis will meet with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on support for the repercussions of the ‘Daniel’ weather phenomenon.
The meeting between them will be followed by expanded talks. The Greek government team includes the ministers of National Economy & Finance, Infrastructure & Transport, Agricultural Development & Food, and the alternate and deputy ministers of National Economy & Finance.
Europarliament’s Metsola
In statements on Monday, Roberta Metsola said that during her meeting with Mitsotakis she will reiterate the European Parliament’s solidarity to Greece and its people.
At the start of the Europarliament’s plenary meeting, Metsola said “we shall continue to talk about the EU’s assistance. Our heart lies with all those whose lives and assets were destroyed this summer and we underline that the EU’s institutional organs will continue to support the countries in need.”
She underlined that extreme weather has affected large swathes of Europe and created extensive damage, destruction, and deaths, while large fires and floods have affected Spain, Bulgaria, Slovenia and Italy. She noted that in Greece in particular, catastrophic floods have cost the lives of 15 people, following large fires in the country. The EU has already provided vital assistance to the countries and regions affected, and will continue to do what is necessary, she asserted.
EU Commissioner Gentiloni
Greece will receive assistance from the EU emergency support fund for natural disasters over the summer “and not only from that”, European Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni said in response to questions on what form European assistance for Greece might take ahead of Tuesday’s visit by the Greek prime minister to Strasbourg.
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 endeavour 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.
SOURCE; ANA-MPA
