Austria to provide EUR 2.5M in humanitarian aid for eastern Ukraine - Schallenberg

Austria will provide EUR 2.5 million in humanitarian aid to the International Committee of the Red Cross and non-governmental organizations working in eastern Ukraine.

Austrian Federal Minister for European and International Affairs Alexander Schallenberg said this at a press conference following a joint visit to Luhansk region of the foreign ministers of Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

"We have provided more than EUR 14 million in the past several years. The Austrian government will provide another ERU 2.5 million in immediate humanitarian aid in coming days to the International Committee of the Red Cross and non-governmental organizations working here,” said Schallenberg.

According to him, during the trip to eastern Ukraine, the foreign ministers of Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia were able to see for themselves how difficult the humanitarian situation is in the region and that the security situation on the contact line remains tense.

According to Schallenberg, for the first time in many years, "there is a risk of military confrontation in Europe." Against this background, he stressed that the joint visit of the three European ministers is a very strong signal of Central European support and solidarity with Ukraine.

As Ukrinform reported, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky, Austrian Federal Minister for European and International Affairs Alexander Schallenberg and Slovak Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Ivan Korcok are on an official visit to Ukraine on February 7-8.

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