The European Union and international donors pledged €7 billion ($7.5 billion) for reconstruction after last month’s deadly earthquakes that killed over 55,000 people in Turkey and Syria.
(Bloomberg) —
The European Union and international donors pledged €7 billion ($7.5 billion) for reconstruction after last month’s deadly earthquakes that killed over 55,000 people in Turkey and Syria.
The European Commission, which has said it will contribute €1 billion, collected the pledges at a donors’ conference of member states, international organizations and other countries in Brussels on Monday.
“When tragedy strikes there’s only one answer and that is solidarity, and I am so glad to see today that the international community strongly supports the reconstruction efforts,” commission president Ursula Von Der Leyen said. “This conference marks only the beginning. There is a lot of work ahead of us.”
Individual EU countries also announced new financial aid to both countries, led by Germany which said it would double its support to €238 million.
“It is impossible for a country, regardless of its economic situation, to cope with the magnitude of such a disaster,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the conference in a video message.
Turkey’s Treasury and Finance Ministry has put the preliminary economic toll of the quakes at over $100 billion.
Turkey Puts Economic Toll From Earthquakes at About $104 Billion
Turkey’s main fiscal office, the UNDP and the World Bank presented their joint damage assessment at Monday’s conference.
“You will see the Turkish government working with the World Bank, where Turkey is essentially borrowing money at concessional rates in order to finance reconstruction,” UN Development Programme Administrator Achim Steiner, who spoke at the event, told Bloomberg in an interview.
“I don’t think we can come close to meeting the needs of what has been estimated today. I think there needs to be some thought given to a subsequent conference for a group of broader partners would be encouraged to step further,” he added.
The World Bank has already pledged $1.78 billion in financial assistance for relief and recovery efforts in Turkey, while the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development pledged as much as €1.5 billion over the next two years.
Swedish Role
The conference also brought together officials from Turkey and Sweden, which co-hosted the conference. The government in Stockholm is waiting for a green light from Ankara to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Sweden pledged SEK500 million ($48 million) to Turkey and Syria on Monday.
NATO Edges Closer to Expansion as Finland Wins Over Holdouts (2)
Sweden and neighboring Finland applied to be part of the NATO alliance after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year.
Turkey has opposed Sweden’s membership bid on grounds that the country has not addressed Turkish security concerns over Kurdish militants’ presence in the country.
Erdogan said last week it would ratify Finland’s entry but reiterated his stance on Sweden, accusing the country of “opening its arms to terrorists.”
–With assistance from Niclas Rolander.
(Updates with total pledges made from first paragraph)
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