Germany May Request Funds From EU to Support Flood Victims - Finance Ministry

BERLIN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th July, 2021) Germany will employ all means available, including the option of soliciting EU funds, to help the victims of floods that wrecked the country's west last week, a spokesperson for the German Finance Ministry said on Monday.

"All opportunities will be used," the spokesperson told a briefing.

The final decision on the amount and format of assistance will be made at a government meeting on Wednesday, the spokesperson added.

The assistance is expected to include emergency payments and the creation of a fund for the restoration of damaged infrastructure, which will be distributed at the level of Federal lands.

Deadly floods in Germany were caused by heavy rains that affected most of western Europe last week. The states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony, and Bavaria have been damaged by the disaster the most, reporting dozens of casualties and severe damage to public and private infrastructure.

The latest death toll from disastrous flooding stands today at 164 killed and hundreds of others missing. On Sunday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited the flooded areas.