A graveyard covered in mud, in the wake of Storm Daniel, in Valomandri, in Trikala Prefecture, Greece, September 10, 2023. Photograph by Giannis Flawless/Reuters
STRASBOURG, France (AP) — The European Union has promised Greece more than 2 billion euros ($2.15 billion) in financial support in the wake of massive summer wildfires and persistent floods that have caused massive damage across central Greece.
“Never before have forest fires devastated such a vast area. Then floods devastated large areas of Greece,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a meeting on Tuesday with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Von der Leyen said that 2.25 billion euros could be saved in the short term, and most of this money comes from unclaimed funds for development and agricultural projects, most of which are allocated to Greece.
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“We must use unspent cohesion funds from the last (funding) period that we would otherwise have lost,” she told reporters at the meeting in Strasbourg, France.
Much of central Greece’s agricultural belt remains submerged after a week of storms that killed at least 15 people, while large parts of the country’s main highway and railway network remain closed.
“I would like first and foremost to address the seriousness of the current situation,” Mitsotakis said. “Over the past month, Greece has suffered two devastating natural disasters of historic proportions.”
“The fire in the Evros region (near Greece’s border with Turkey) is the largest fire in the history of Europe… and we have seen the worst floods in our history. This is probably one of the strongest storms to ever hit Europe.” He said.
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A graveyard covered in mud, in the wake of Storm Daniel, in Valomandri, in Trikala Prefecture, Greece, September 10, 2023. Photograph by Giannis Flawless/Reuters