06/04/2020 (Agence Europe) – Through its Civil Protection Mechanism, the EU will co-finance 75% of a Latvian flight to deliver personal protective equipment against COVID-19 to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, the European Commission announced on Monday 6 April. It was Estonia that activated the EU Civil Protection Mechanism for this purpose. The Latvian flight is scheduled to take off from China on Tuesday 7 April to deliver this material to the three Baltic States, which are facing a shortage of equipment such as masks. The Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, points out that the Commission's Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) "is working around the clock to help with logistics of multiple flights". When it becomes operational, the recently created RescEU medical equipment stockpile will help countries whose national response capabilities are overwhelmed (see EUROPE 12460/14). (AN)