Two More Planes Arrived in Belgrade – Equipment Purchased by Serbia and Transport Paid by EU

Two more planes landed at the Nikola Tesla Airport, carrying medical supplies that Serbia axquired to combat COVID-19. The European Union fully funds the flight costs as part of the 15 mil EUR package for immediate response assistance to help Serbia fight COVID-19.

These flights, organized by UN Development Programme, arrange for supplies and equipment to be transferred in the quickest way by large cargo planes which maximise space and save precious time and costs.

Minister for European Integration and National IPA Coordinator and Coordinator of Donor and Development Assistance Jadranka Joksimović and Ministry for European Integration work daily and intensively with the European Union and bilateral partners. “The challenges are the same, cooperation and effective solidarity are the only way to fight the pandemic. I thank the EU Delegation to Serbia and Ambassador Sem Fabrizi for promptly responding to my request for additional funding for flights to ship medical equipment. We continue to work! ” said Joksimović.

Head of European Union Delegation to Serbia, Ambassador Sem Fabrizi said on this occasion: ”The whole world is fighting COVID-19. These are difficult times for all which require great solidarity. We are working around the clock to provide support to Serbia and protect the health of its citizens. The two planes which landed today, bring to four the number of cargo planes with transport cost funded by the EU bringing important medical supplies to help Serbia combat COVID-19. More cargo planes are expected to arrive in the next few days. This support is part of the 93 million euros financial package for Serbia, announced by Commissioner Varhelyi last week“.

Another EU financed flight with the medical supplies purchased by Serbia will arrive tomorrow.  The transport cost for this flight is paid by the EU.

About the EU in Serbia

The European Union is Serbia’s accession partner, biggest investor, trade partner and donor. Since the beginning of Serbia’s accession talks in 2014, the EU has donated to Serbia almost 2 billion euros of non-refundable grants to support the modernisation of the country.

In the health sector alone the EU has granted and loaned 450 million euros over the past 2 decades to Serbia to make the system more modern and resilient.