EC president promises billions of euros to flood-hit region

The European Union will make billions of euros available to help central Europe recover from severe floods, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday, following a meeting with the heads of governments of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria and Poland. Von der Leyen said that 10 billion euros would be made available from EU cohesion funds and that some of the conditions usually attached to such funds, such as co-financing by member states, would be lifted to make the response quicker. She also said that money from the EU's Solidarity Fund, which supports member states hit by natural disasters, would be used to rebuild infrastructure. Two billion euros should fall to the Czech Republic.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala has welcomed the news, saying that repairing the devastated regions from national budgets would be long and difficult. At the meeting Mr. Fiala also praised the cooperation between emergency crews and water management authorities in the region.