Poland helps Western Balkans fight coronavirus
29.05.2020
On Tuesday the aid for six Western Balkan countries; Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia left Warsaw. The shipment includes more than 60,000 litres of disinfectants and 600,000 surgical masks, which amounts to nearly 70 tonnes of cargo. Assistance to Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and North Macedonia is provided in response to the requests made to NATO Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Center.
Polish humanitarian aid will be delivered to hospitals and those in need across the region through Solidarity Fund PL. The National Headquarters of the State Fire Service has been tasked with transporting the items.
“Solidarity” is the key word to describe the entire development policy underlying the MFA’s humanitarian assistance programmes. Poland does not forget about its neighbours and about other states that are in need of help” said Deputy Foreign Minister Paweł Jabłoński.
Deputy Minister Szymon Szynkowski vel Sęk added that assistance for the Western Balkans is a clear confirmation of the importance we attach to our relations with the region, a region without which it would be difficult to consider the process of uniting Europe as complete.
Poland has been actively supporting the Balkan countries on their path to the Euro-Atlantic and European integration and is a supporter of NATO's open door policy.
Last year, Poland held the presidency of the Berlin Process, an initiative supporting the integration of the Western Balkans with the European Union. As part of the presidency, which culminated in the Western Balkans Summit in Poznan in July 2019, over 100 events were held in Poland and in the Western Balkans. Poland also donated over EUR 1.5 million for the region’s infrastructural development. What is more, Poland expressed its solidarity with the region’s countries by pledging EUR 2.7 million to help rebuild Albania following a tragic earthquake which struck the country last year.
The Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Center (EADRCC), operating under the North Atlantic Alliance, coordinates assistance and distribution of resources in the event of natural disasters and crises, such as COVID-19 pandemic. EADRCC provides a platform for cooperation for 70 Allied and partner countries, as well as international organizations.
Permanent Delegation of Poland to NATO
