Brussels, 01/07/2010 (Agence Europe) - Kristalina Georgieva, European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, will be in Kyrgyzstan on Friday 2 July and Saturday 3 July to discuss with the country's authorities and, in particular, with the president of the provisional government, Roza Otunbayeva, on the humanitarian situation following recent ethnic clashes in that country. She will also take the opportunity to look at the situation on the ground.
In a press release published on Thursday the day before her departure, Georgieva said: “I am relived that the situation in Kyrgyzstan has calmed down and that the constitutional referendum on 27 June was conducted in a peaceful manner. Most of the refugees have now returned to Kyrgyzstan but the situation of the internally displaced persons remains fragile”.
The European commissioner will be in the Osh region (most affected by the ethnic clashes) to visit aid projects and take part in coordination meetings with the NGOs and other humanitarian partners.
As soon as the crisis began, the EU had allocated €5 million in emergency humanitarian aid for those most affected. (A.N./transl.jl)