Chapter 27 within the EU accession negotiation, concerning ecology, is among the most demanding and most expensive ones, and Serbia is faced with a “bumpy” road when it comes to harmonisation with the European standards, said the participants of the “Environment towards Europe” conference, held at Belgrade Chamber of Commerce on the occasion of World Environment Day.
The European Commission has released its 2014 Convergence Report, which assesses eight Member States’ readiness to join the single currency. These countries have made uneven progress on the road to euro adoption, but Lithuania stands out from this group as it now fulfils the convergence criteria.
Among numerous EU Member States’ teams sent to Serbia to help flood fighting and join relief efforts, there are water purification units from France and Germany that provide drinking water to inhabitants of Svilajnac, Ćuprija and Obrenovac.
The European Commission has taken note of OSCE’s remarks and worries regarding Serbia’s online censorship claims and will continue to closely monitor the situation, Peter Stano, Spokesman of European Enlargement Commissioner Štefan Füle said.
Several EU Member States’ teams have focused on water purification in Svilajnac, Ćuprija, and Obrenovac, whereas the operation of floodwater pumping continues in Obrenovac, Svilajnac and Babušinac.
More than ten days since the first requests for assistance have been submitted the EU Member States continue to assist Serbia at the same pace in flood relief efforts.
Pumping and purification of water in at least six Serbian towns as well as assessments of situation in a number of towns and villages affected by floods are key ongoing activities of EU Member States’ rescuing teams, their team leaders said at a meeting Wednesday.
I will never forget the scenes of the floods across Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia: a deluge of rain of truly Biblical proportions which within a matter of hours wrought the greatest damage there since the region’s terrible wars of the 1990s. Now back from my visit to the region, my heart is full of sorrow for the people who have lost relatives, homes and livelihoods, but also admiration for the courage and kindness they have shown over the last week – and a strong determination to mobilise more help for the thousands of people who need it.
In response to severe floods which hit Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, the EU continues to provide help and assistance to deal with the consequences of this natural disaster. In addition to immediate humanitarian aid provided so far, the European Commission has allocated an extra €65 million to tackle the aftermath of the floods.
EU-provided civil protection teams have continued to help Serbian authorities dealing with the consequences of floods, primarily through drainage operations, pumping activities and water purification.
