Commissioner Lenarčič is in Germany to welcome the 1000th Ukrainian patient evacuated to the country

Today, the European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič is participating at an event in Cologne-Bonn airport, Germany to mark the 1000^th Ukrainian patient transferred to receive healthcare in Germany since the beginning of Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine. The medical evacuations are coordinated and financially supported via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.

In response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the EU established a medical evacuation scheme in March 2022. As of today, 3,156 Ukrainian patients, either critically ill or wounded in the war, have been transported to hospitals across 22 European countries. This operation stands as the largest medical evacuation effort coordinated by the European Commission’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre to date. Last month, the EU and Norway agreed to extend their cooperation in the provision of regular medical evacuation flights from the EU Medevac Hub in Rzeszow, Poland to destinations across Europe.

During his visit, Commissioner Lenarčič will engage in bilateral meetings with Ms Nancy Faeser, the German Federal Minister of the Interior and Community, Mr Karl Lauterbach, the German Federal Minister of Health, and Mr Ralph Tiesler, the President of the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance in Germany.