Those people most affected by recent flooding should receive financial aid from the state, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said at a press conference on Tuesday, June 8. He promised that €6.03 million would be distributed in the first round out of €25 million allocated to flood relief by the government.
The payments, intended to help people buy necessities, will go to 12,175 households in 383 villages, the TASR newswire wrote. According to Fico, the speed with which the cheques are delivered is now up to Slovak Post. He added that the government, along with the Interior Ministry, will draw up a plan to disburse further compensation packages and pointed out that financial aid is also coming from the Labour Ministry, which is planning to disburse some €800,000 among 1,320 persons.
The severe floods that hit Slovakia recently have, Fico said, prompted calls for enabling legislation to allow state funding for political parties to be used instead on flood relief. The government will therefore discuss amendments at its Wednesday session, he said, adding that the government would also try to obtain resources from the European Solidarity Fund to cover some of the water damage. According to Speaker of Parliament Pavol Paška, the Slovak parliament will also discuss the amendments at an extraordinary session set for Thursday (June 10), just two days before the general election on Saturday.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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