site.btaBulgaria and Eight Other EU Member States Offer Humanitarian Aid to Syria

Bulgaria and eight other EU member states have offered humanitarian aid to earthquake struck Syria, said the European Commission on Monday. The EU Civil Protection Mechanism was activated on Syria's request last week and Bulgaria was officially informed of the activation of Friday, as BTA reported.

Austria, Cyprus, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Romania, Slovenia and Norway are the other EU countries that have answered the request. The EU is urgently delivering winter tents, heating devices, blankets, and water to Syria. The aid will be distributed to the government-controlled areas with the help of the Red Cross and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent organizations and to the other regions - in cooperation with the International Organization for Migration.

Two EU staff members were sent to Beirut this week for consultations regarding the needs of the country, added the European Commission and noted that Syria has already received EUR 3.5 million of humanitarian aid for the most urgent cases. 

The EU sanctions on Syria are not interfering with the deliveries of the humanitarian aid, a European Commission spokesperson said during a media conference on Monday. He added that if the Damascus authorities, backed by Russia and Iran, hadn't gone to war against the Syrian people, today they would have had millions of dollars for heavy clearing equipment.

The sanctions target the perpetrators of the repressions against the Syrian people and the European Union cannot be blamed for not doing enough to help the ones in need, the spokesperson said.

A total of 38 rescue teams from 21 EU member states and 3 other countries have arrived in Turkiye - the epicenter of the earthquakes in the region. Bulgaria, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain answered the call as well as Albania, Serbia and Montenegro. A total of 1652 rescuers and 105 search dogs have been offered to Turkiye.