EU advances this year with 1.56 million aid to victims of war in Syria

The European Union (EU) announced this Tuesday that its humanitarian aid to Syrians will this year amount to 1.56 billion euros, appealing to other donors present at the conference on Syria not to abandon the country.

Last year, Brussels had already made a commitment to allocate 560 million euros to respond, in 2022, to the needs resulting from 11 years of civil war in Syria, to which an additional one million was announced this Tuesday by the head of European diplomacy. , Josep Borrell, who chairs the conference that brings together, in Brussels, almost 70 countries and organizations.

For 2023, the EU has also pledged to contribute an equal amount of donation, intended for “Syrians in Syria and refugees and host communities in the region”.

“I have to ask everyone to be equally generous today,” Borrell said, citing a statement in which he adds that political commitment to Syria “has to be supported with equally important financial commitments.”

“We must not abandon Syria”, the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy also underlined, recalling that in 2021 the annual donors’ conference raised 6.4 billion euros (4.4 for 2021 and 2 billion for this year). ).

On the other hand, Borrell appealed to Russia so that the cross-border mechanism of humanitarian aid can remain active, since the agreement that allows it expires in July and depends on a UN Security Council mandate, in which the country has the right to veto.