The international community pledged €1.15 billion to support reconstruction efforts in Albania on Monday 17 February at the Brussels donors’ conference.
The country was hit by an earthquake last 26 November that killed 51 people, injured 900, damaged 300 schools, and displaced 17,000 people who lost their homes. According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), €1 billion was needed to cover requirements.
“Something magical happened”, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said at the end of the conference, adding that the amount exceeded his expectations. Prior to the meeting, he explained that he did not expect all the needs to be covered, but that his country would be “in trouble” if the conference did not reach 400 million euros.
The EU, its Member States, and the European Investment Bank alone have pledged 400 million euros, of which 100 million euros will come from the European budget. This is in addition to the 15 million euros already announced by the Commission in December.
The Commissioner for Enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi, promised a rapid implementation of the funds. It will be used in a fully transparent manner, promised Mr Rama and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The latter specified that the main principles of the EU-Albania Memorandum of Understanding would be transparency and accountability. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)