EU Pledges Billions for Central Europe Flood Recovery

The European Union, led by Ursula von der Leyen, has pledged billions of euros to aid the flood recovery effort in Central Europe. The floods have caused significant damage to infrastructure and housing, with a death toll of 24. Hungary, Poland, and Austria are among the affected countries.

European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday pledged billions of euros for flood recovery for Central European countries that suffered enormous damage to infrastructure and housing during the current flooding that has claimed 24 lives in the region.

Von der Leyen paid a quick visit to a flood-damaged region in southeastern Poland and met with the government heads of the affected countries — Poland, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. She said funds will be quickly available for repair from the EU's solidarity fund. However, stating it would not be enough in the face of enormous destruction, she also pledged 10 billion euros from what is called the cohesion fund for the most urgent repairs.

Von der Leyen emphasized that no contribution from the individual countries would be required for the money to be released, stressing that swift action was needed in the crisis situation. Heavy rains also caused flooding and evacuation of some 1,000 people in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna. In Central Europe, the receding waters revealed the scale of the destruction caused by exceptionally heavy rains that began a week ago.

(With inputs from agencies.)