TIRANA (Albania), January 10 (SeeNews) – The European Union will host an international donors' conference in Brussels to support reconstruction in Albania following the devastating earthquake that hit the EU candidate country in November, the president of the European Commission said on Friday.
“The EU is happy to announce that the donors' conference for Albania will be on the 17 February. We want to help Albania in its reconstruction,” Ursula von der Leyen said in a press release.
A 6.3 magnitude earthquake on November 26, the worst to strike Albania in decades, left 51 people dead and around 3000 injured.
The EU places high priority on the reconstruction and recovery of Albania and will help to coordinate an international response and to gather necessary financial support to assist in the long term efforts that will be needed for this, according to the press release.
In early December, Ursula von der Leyen said that the European Commission has pledged 15 million euro ($16.7 million) for immediate support for Albania to help the country recover from the earthquake.
Albania became a candidate for EU membership in June 2014 and is expecting to open accession talks later this year.
($= 0.90004 euro)