March 19 (SeeNews) - The European Union plans to provide 200 million euro ($216 million) from its pre-accession funds to help Serbia cope with the adverse economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic, an EU official said on Thursday.
"We are in constant contact with the Serbian government to see how we can quickly, efficiently and in the best way channel 200 million euro from pre-accession funds into measures to support the Serbian economy," the head of the EU delegation in Belgrade, Sem Fabrizi, said in a video file posted on the website of public broadcaster RTS.
At the moment it seems that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will need help most of all but the EU is open to any suggestions by the Serbian government, Fabrizi noted.
The EU has already activated various existing mechanisms to assist countries in the Western Balkans, and in particular Serbia, Fabrizi said, adding that in the field of healthcare, the Centre for Disease Control in Brussels has offered Serbia all its expertise in combating the virus.
"First, we have activated a Civil Protection system for Serbia, which allows Serbia to ask other members for help," Fabrizi noted.
Earlier this week, Serbia's EU integration minister Jadranka Joksimovic said she sent a letter to the European Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy, Oliver Varhelyi, seeking the green light for the use of unspent funds from the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) to support the institutions engaged in combating the spread of the epidemic and effectively limiting its consequences.
($ = 0.926306 euro)