14/12/2022 (Agence Europe) – On Wednesday 14 December, the European Commission made “the final payment of €6.5 billion under the SURE instrument, bringing the total support to Member States to €98.4 billion”, it announced in a statement. On Wednesday, the Commission paid out more than €6.5 billion to nine Member States as part of the final operation under SURE, the instrument designed to protect jobs and incomes affected by Covid-19. This is the ninth and final payment. Bulgaria received €460 million, Cyprus €29 million, the Czech Republic €2.5 billion, Greece €900 million, Croatia €550 million, Lithuania €142 million, Latvia €167 million, Poland €1.5 billion and Portugal €300 million. These countries had already received support under SURE. (SP)