EC gives Albania 115m euros for post-earthquake reconstruction, Soreca: Continuous monitoring of project implementation

 

 The European Union donated 115 million euros for the reconstruction after the devastating earthquake that hit Albania at dawn on November 26, 2019.

In a television interview, EU Ambassador to Albania Luigi Soreca spoke about the fundraising work and his experiences for November 26th, state media say.

"Like all Albanians, I woke up to the force of the earthquake at 3:54 am and it took me a few seconds to understand what was happening. But then I immediately realized I had to act. So I woke up the staff and within an hour we were ready to ask the government what it needed from the EU. "I had the first phone call with the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense, around 5 o'clock in the morning", said Soreca.

"They were going to Durrës. We discussed the first immediate needs. At 7:00 am, the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism was activated at the request of the Albanian government. The rest of the day was spent with information gathering, I informed the other ambassadors of the Member States and in particular, and was organized the arrival of the first experts. I am proud to say that the first experts arrived that night. After 18 hours, on the evening of November 26, the first experts were here. Then I started thinking about the medium term, what needed to be done, and I started to prepare the next steps," said the ambassador.

Asked what the next steps were, Soreca said, "First of all, make sure that as many EU experts, engineers, civil protection experts, and of course first aid, tents, generators, beds, blankets. For three days the first aid came and the first teams were here. I myself went several times to the field, to Durrës, to Vora, to the large shelter camps that were set up. It was very important for me to understand what I had to do, what message I had to give to my authorities to expedite the intervention."

"Then the second phase was the preparation for the reconstruction and here I have to say that on December 16 the first team of experts was created between the EU, the World Bank and the United Nations to prepare the needs assessment after the disaster, which was a very important step to create credibility in donors to donate to Albania. The aim was to work with the Albanian government and especially, at that time, with Mr. Çuçi and the Minister of Economy who were appointed for long-term preparations", said Soreca.

"But I have to tell you that those days on the ground, right after the event, they told me about the extent of the problem, so we made sure to include as many resources as possible. That is why the EU reached the decision to organize the Donors' Conference in Brussels. It is interesting to know that it was also the first week of the new Commission. And the first decision taken by the first Van der Leyen Commission was to give 15 million euros to Albania for immediate needs. And when President Van der Leyen came here, two months ago, it was like a closing of the cycle that started that night when they decided. The first decision of that Commission was for Albania", stressed Soreca.

Asked of how much was the total assistance that the European Union provided to Albania, Soreca said that, “the figures are important and I will try to be clear. The Donors' Conference gave Albania a wonderful sense of solidarity. 1.15 billion euros in loans and donations. The European Union, meaning the European Commission, the member states and the European Investment Bank, put € 400 million into this budget, of which the European Commission donated € 115 million. These were the most important parts because as you know donations are donations. They come to be implemented. I have to say that this changed my job as well."

"I was entrusted with the management of this very important and the identification of areas where Albania needed it most. We identified the field of education and culture as areas of great need. So we created two programs, EU for schools and "EU for culture, the first 75 million euros, while the second 40 million euros. But why these elements? Because the European Union wanted to build the future of Albania, a bridge between the past and the future, but also between the EU and Albania, and education and culture are the projection towards the future", stressed Soreca.

Asked how he monitored of how this money was spent, Ambassador Soreca said that, “constantly. As you know we have decided to contract two UN agencies: UNDP and UNOPS for two programs. Why these? Because they have the same rules for transparency and accountability as the European Union. We entrusted them with the implementation of these programs, but we control and monitor the implementation through the steering committee, but also through visits with UN colleagues. I have traveled all over the area to see how this money is spent. Something I am very proud of is that every decision regarding these 115 million is available online. We have a transparency portal where every decision taken to implement this money is available to everyone, including journalists."

Asked how he feels about Albanians, two years after this great help, Soreca said that, “two years, two long years spent taking care of Albanians. If I turn my mind to those moments, I still feel sad because I saw pain, I saw despair. I still remember the faces of people asking for help. At the same time, I feel proud, because during these two years the European Union has shown one of the strongest signs of solidarity with Albania. Now visiting the schools we have built - 19 so far, 22 will be built by March 2022 and 63 by next November - when I see these children and those who write to us, I am very proud to have run these programs."

"I think the situation has improved a lot, but there is still work to be done, there are still people suffering. But I hope that Albanians will see this as a great achievement of the European Union, of the European Union delegation, mine because I see this as an achievement. But the most important thing to understand is that the European Union is here every day, helping Albania in every crisis that Albanians go through", concluded Soreca.