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European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations
News article10 March 2022Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO)

Ukraine: EU continues providing emergency aid as Commissioner Lenarčič visits Romania

Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič
© European Union, 2022 (photographer: Bogdan Dinca)

The EU continues to coordinate emergency aid deliveries to Ukraine and neighbouring countries. Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič is currently in Romania to meet with the authorities and coordinate EU support to help those arriving from Ukraine.

The Commissioner has visited the border to Ukraine at the Siret crossing point to assess the situation on the ground. The Commissioner also visited the new EU civil protection logistics hub in Suceava where four truckloads of medicine for Ukraine arrived yesterday from Italy.

To efficiently manage this exceptionally high amount of deliveries, logistical hubs have been set up in Poland and Romania with the support of the European Commission’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre. These hubs will gather the assistance offered by Member States and dispatch it to Ukraine.

Today the Commissioner will meet with the Prime Minister of Romania, Mr Nicolae-Ionel Ciucă, the Minister of Internal Affairs and State Secretary, Mr Lucian Bode, and the Head of the Romania Emergency Situations Inspectorate, Mr Raed Arafat.

All 27 EU Member States, plus Norway and Turkey, have now offered help to Ukraine via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. The assistance includes over 80 million items such as first aid kits, shelter equipment, firefighting equipment, water pumps, power generators, and fuel.

This is the largest ever activation of the Mechanism to date, and the EU keeps receiving new offers every day. Neighbouring countries Moldova, Poland and Slovakia have also requested assistance via the Mechanism in light of the large influx of people fleeing the war, and several EU countries have responded by offering shelter items, medicines, hygiene kits and power generators.

Furthermore, the EU is allocating additional €3 million in humanitarian funding to Moldova. This new funding will support the Ukrainians forced to flee their country by providing winterisation items and shelters, protection services, transportation and access to healthcare, but also cash assistance.

Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, said: “Europe is witnessing the worst humanitarian catastrophe since World War II. In this dark hour, we also see the generosity of European countries as they come together to support the people of Ukraine who have been dragged to this war against their will. The EU has been working around the clock to coordinate the emergency assistance via its Civil Protection Mechanism, with much of life-saving aid already having reached Ukraine. Despite the ongoing hostilities, our humanitarian partners in Ukraine are starting to scale up their operations to bring relief to the people most in need.”

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