Minister Tsahkna in Brussels: People of Gaza and Ukraine need quick decisions
Estonia is providing €120,000 in support to United Nations organizations dealing with the humanitarian situation in the Gaza strip, while more broadly, quick decisions are needed both on Gaza and on Ukraine, Minister of Foreign Affairs Margus Tsahkna (Eesti 200) says.
"After an international investigation, Estonia will support four UN organizations with a total of €120,000, aimed at alleviating the humanitarian situation in Gaza," Minister Tsahkna said.
That humanitarian situation in Gaza is extremely critical, the foreign ministry says, with nearly 1.1 million of its residents over half of whom are, children, at immediate risk of famine.
Support will be equally distributed between the UN's World Food Program (WFP), UNICEF, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), and the UN mechanism to facilitate humanitarian aid.
Minister Tsahkna made his remarks in the context of a meeting on Tuesday in Brussels, which brought together EU development ministers.
Ukraine was also on the table at Tuesday's meeting.
On this, Minister Tsahkna said: "It is extremely important for Ukraine that we reach the final stages of approving the implementation decision for the financial support plan, which they need not just as soon as possible, but immediately," Tsahkna emphasized at the meeting."
The plan Tsahkna was referring to is the €50 billion of reliable financial support the EU signed off on in late February.
The Ukraine fund is designed to be flexible and adapted to solve unprecedented problems related to supporting a country at war, ensuring the predictability, transparency, and accountability of financial resources, the foreign ministry says.
The foreign minister also stressed that Ukraine has made significant progress in its reforms and has met all the criteria set for starting EU accession negotiations. "We need to move forward with these negotiations," he added.
While the U.S. Congress signed off on a long-awaited $61 billion (€56.8 million) aid package to Ukraine late last month, with an election later this year, that country is likely to bear less of the burden in financial and other support for Ukraine in the future, and with the baton passed increasingly to Germany and the EU.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte
Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
