Coronavirus: EU supports Baltic states aid delivery

The European Commission will co-finance a flight delivering personal protective equipment, such as masks, to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. “We are here to provide any support we can to our Member States. Our Emergency Response Coordination Centre is working around the clock to help with logistics of multiple flights, including this aid delivery to the Baltic states”, said Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič. Following the activation of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism by Estonia, a Latvian plane is scheduled to depart from China tomorrow. When the scale of an emergency overwhelms the response capabilities of a country, it can request assistance via the Mechanism. To date, all EU Member States participate in the Mechanism, as well as Iceland, Norway, Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Turkey. Since its inception in 2001, the EU Civil Protection Mechanism has responded to over 400 requests for assistance inside and outside the EU.