Hahn: In provision of aid, Serbia is treated as EU member

BELGRADE - European Commissioner for Regional Policy Johannes Hahn said in Belgrade Saturday that the EU treats Serbia as a member state and will do anything to show that and help Serbia in the difficult situation caused by the recent heavy flooding in the country.

Hahn told a joint press conference with Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic that it is essential to identify priorities and to see in what way aid for the areas and people badly hit by the floods can be ensured.

The EU commissioner said that he arrived in Belgrade to tell the Serbian people that the EU will do everything to help, pointing out that a certain amount of money can already be used for reconstruction and rehabilitation, but we still need to wait for all the necessary estimates of damages to be completed.

Together, EU and Serbian experts are already looking for ways to make money from EU funds reach the endangered areas as soon as possible, said Hahn.

He said that it is very difficult to talk about exact figures at the moment, but Serbia will certainly get a lot of money.

Hahn said that everybody will do their best to get everything done as soon as possible and to bring everything back to normal in a year’s time.

On behalf of the EU and the European Commission, Hahn conveyed condolences to families of the victims of the floods in Serbia.

The support of the European Union for Serbia after being badly hit by heavy flooding recently is owerwhelming and we have already reached an agreement on mechanisms to use aid from the Union, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said Saturday.

At a joint press conference after a meeting he had with European Commissioner for Regional Policy Johannes Hahn in...