BRUSSELS – According to the European Commission, the EU has allocated € 800 million in aid to the Western Balkans and Turkey to help health sector and eliminate the economic and social consequences of the Coronavirus epidemic.
The EU has allocated € 4 million to Albania for medical equipment and € 7 million to Bosnia and Herzegovina for hospital care and equipment for healthcare personnel.
Kosovo was granted € 5 million for the laboratory, protective equipment and respirators, while Montenegro was given € 3 million for the procurement of medical equipment, protection and respirators.
North Macedonia is allocated € 4 million for the medical care and procurement of five thousand tests for the coronavirus.
Serbia earmarked € 78.5 million from the EU funds for the rehabilitation of the economic and social consequences of the pandemic, € 15 million for the payment of the costs of the air transportation of emergency medical supplies and funds, as well as € 7.5 million for the remodelling and equipment of the laboratory for testing the corona test virus.
The European Union has also earmarked € 46.5 million for Albania, € 73.5 million for Bosnia and Herzegovina, € 63 million for Kosovo, € 63 million for North Macedonia to eliminate social and economic damage.
Another € 290 million has been approved by the EU for the recovery of the Western Balkans as a whole from the effects of the virus corona epidemic.
As announced from European Commission, the assistance is “emergency support for humanitarian needs, health promotion, water supply, enhancement of the ability to cope with the pandemic and remedy social, social and economic consequences”
“The EU provides this assistance because we live on the same continent and together we can succeed in combating the virus coronas and eliminating the economic and social consequences of the pandemic”, said the Enlargement Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi.
Várhelyi reminded that the EU has allocated a total of € 3.8 billion to support its eastern and southern neighbours, as well as the Western Balkans and Turkey.