Slovak Deputy Prime Minister and Investment Minister Veronika Remišová (For the People)
asked the European Commission (EC) for a flexible use of EU funds to address the humanitarian crisis linked to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The aim is to temporarily finance social benefits and health insurance for refugees from Ukraine. It also proposes to use the Cohesion Fund to finance the consequences of the migration crisis, as well as the possibility of shifting allocations between different operational programmes in order to tackle the current crisis and support the economy.
"Furthermore, we are in favour of making it possible to finance working capital for enterprises, including large enterprises and enterprises in difficulties, in the form of grants," Remišová said. In her letter, the Deputy PM also called for a new package of legislative changes that would help use the free resources from the EU funds to compensate for the inflationary rise in the prices of goods and services.
Remišová's letter follows an initiative by the 10 EU countries most affected by the refugee crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine (Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Croatia, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia).
"Russia's aggression against Ukraine has triggered the biggest refugee crisis since the Second World War. Already 7 million people have had to flee their homes for fear of their lives, half a million of whom have crossed the Slovak-Ukrainian border. If the Commission were to listen to our demands, it would be to the benefit of Slovakia. Effective solutions to help people fleeing the war would be more flexible for all ministries with EU funds," the Deputy Prime Minister concluded.
Source: TASR
