Belgium will receive €87.7 million in emergency financial aid from the European Solidarity Fund (ESF), European Finance Ministers announced on Tuesday. The funds are intended to help repair the damage caused by the floods that struck the country in the summer of 2021.
The floods in Belgium in July last year mainly affected the Walloon region and claimed the lives of 41 people. The disaster also adversely impacted the lives of tens of thousands of other people and damaged many homes and other infrastructure, resulting in billions of euros' worth of damages.
ESF is operated by the EU and aims to provide financial assistance to EU Member States in the wake of major disasters.
Related News
- Belgium sends water treatment plant and B-FAST team to Pakistan
- EU climate change causes €145 billion in losses
The ESF also approved financial support for numerous other European countries. Germany (granted €612.6 million), the Netherlands (€4.7 million), Luxembourg (€1.8 million) and Austria (€798,000) were also hit by severe flooding in the summer of 2021, while Spain (€9.5 million) faced major damage after the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on La Palma, and Greece (€1.4 million) was hit by an earthquake in Crete.
"We can all vividly recall the tragic images [of last year]," said Czech Finance Minister Zbyněk Stanjura, who chaired the recent meeting of EU Finance Ministers. "It is in our collective interest that countries affected by natural disasters can rebuild what was destroyed and that their economies emerge from the events even stronger."
