Another 90 Tonnes of Medical Equipment Lands at Serbia’s Nikola Tesla Airport – Equipment Purchased by Serbia and Transport Paid by EU
Today, a second cargo Boeing 747 landed at Nikola Tesla Airport from Kerala, with 90 tonnes load of medical protective equipment bought by Serbia to combat COVID-19.
The cost for the transport of the equipment is fully funded by the European Union as part of the 93 mil EUR package for Serbia announced by the European Union, which provides immediate as well as short and medium-term assistance to help Serbia to fight COVID-19.
The flight, managed by UN Development Programme, is enabling supplies and equipment to be brought in the quickest way, by using a huge cargo plane to maximise space, save precious time and costs.
Head of European Union Delegation to Serbia, Ambassador H.E. Sem Fabrizi said: ”Europe is fighting a very difficult situation. Thousands of people are infected and thousands are dying every day. And in difficult moments, we have to stick together. We see great solidarity movements all across the continent and that is heart-warming. And this solidarity, of course, extends to Serbia.
“The entire world is facing today an unprecedented challenge while spreading of COVID19 beyond control is a threat to the entire humanity. Our success in fighting COVID19 pandemic depends on our actions and moves, but it largely depends also on the readiness of our international partners to help us. I am, therefore, very grateful to the EU, China, Norway, Switzerland and UN agencies for having expressed solidarity with Serbia in this difficult moment by putting their own capacities at our disposal to help us in this joint fight and prevent potential consequences for our people’s health and our economy. Allow me to extend my special thanks to the Commissioner Varhelyi for his positive response to our request and willingness to reallocate as much as 93.4 million EUR of assistance to procurement and transport of medical equipment and supplies and also to our economy’s recovery”, the Minister of European Integration Jadranka Joksimović said.
Earlier this week, the EU announced a 93 million euro package for Serbia to help fight COVID-19. It contains concrete measures to support Serbia to better equipper, measures that will help to save lives, protect the most vulnerable ones, support jobs and small businesses. Solidarity in action!’ Together we shall overcome this struggle”.