The European Commission will allocate 45 million euros ($49.5 million) to the civil protection mechanism for the coordination of repatriation flights to Europe amid the COVID-19 pandemic, commission spokesman Balazs Ujvari said on Friday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th March, 2020) The European Commission will allocate 45 million Euros ($49.5 million) to the civil protection mechanism for the coordination of repatriation flights to Europe amid the COVID-19 pandemic, commission spokesman Balazs Ujvari said on Friday.
Earlier in the day, the commission proposed a draft of budget amendments to boost certain areas related to the situation with COVID-19, according to Ujvari.
"[Some] 45 million euro will help the EU civil protection mechanism coordinate further repatriation flights. So far more than 2,300 citizens have been brought back thanks to EU civil protection support," Ujvari said.
The European Union will also increase spending on necessary medical equipment.
"The budget of the rescEU medical stockpile will increase to 80 million euro [$88.1 million]. This will boost resources to procure more ventilators, protective masks, and essential medical gear," he added.
On Thursday, the European Parliament adopted the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative, directing 37 billion euros to pandemic response efforts. This has become necessary as Europe is the new epicenter of the disease, with countries like Spain and Italy among the global leaders in cases numbers.
