TIRANA, Dec. 6 – European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic said on Thursday during a visit to Albania that the European Union will support the country in the reconstruction phase after the earthquake which took the lives of 51 individuals, while also stressing that a needs assessment is necessary beforehand.
The European Commission has decided to organize a donors’ conference, which Prime Minister Edi Rama said he called to be held within January of next year.
Just days after officially taking office, Lenarcic arrived in Albania on Thursday to look closely at the situation and understand the kind of assistance the country currently needs.
He initially had a long conversation with Prime Minister Edi Rama at the Durres Emergency Headquarters on the most pressing situation and problems that require resolution.
He stated that his visit is “a testament to the European Union’s solidarity with Albania, whose citizens must know that they are not alone in these difficult times.”
Lenarcic also visited the affected areas as well as a winter camp set up by the Italian civilian Emergency in the Vora area. He said that the assistance provided in the first moments would continue.
“We are now in the second phase of damage assessment, which will lead us to a third phase that we will deal with later, that of reconstruction,” he added.
Rama, on his part, said that “the President of the Commission has engaged with us to have a detailed post-disaster report and on the basis of that report the EU funding mechanism for reconstruction will be set in motion, for as much as it can cover of course.”
Lenarcic said the European Commission is already in contact with the United Nations and the World Bank to prepare a needs assessment.
The EC decided on Wednesday to organize a donors’ conference for Albania, in addition to the financial support it is expected to provide.
Rama said he had asked EC President Ursula Von der Leyen that this conference could be organized within January.
A special panel on the case of Albania is scheduled to be held in Istanbul on Sunday, according to Rama.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, parliament approved in principle the budget for next year.
According to what Rama earlier announced, there are at least 59m euros that will be made available to cope with the effects of the earthquake.
