The delivery of millions of essential items and equipment to Ukraine and the evacuation of patients from Ukraine is continuing through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.
On Friday 25 March, the European Commission announced that a convoy of vehicles, including 21 ambulances, 11 fire trucks, 16 rescue vehicles and 23 trucks carrying 49 tonnes of health and emergency equipment, donated by France, had set off. The convoy is on its way to a logistics centre in Romania, from where it will be sent to Ukraine.
Two further logistics hubs are operational in Poland and Slovakia to speed up the delivery of more than 8,000 tonnes of emergency equipment so far provided by EU Member States, Turkey and Norway in response to the Ukrainian authorities’ request for assistance (see EUROPE 12918/10).
The EU is also coordinating medical evacuation operations through its civil protection mechanism to transfer patients to hospitals where they can receive appropriate care for their condition (see EUROPE 12910/7). Eight patients have been transported from Poland to Germany, Ireland, Italy and Norway, and many more medical evacuations are underway, according to the Commission. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)