European countries to allocate EUR 143 million for demining efforts in Ukraine

This was announced by Ukraine’s Minister of Economy, Yulia Svyrydenko.

"Representatives from over 40 countries, hundreds of discussions and one common goal - to make Ukrainian land safe again. Ministers of Defense, Foreign Affairs, ambassadors, heads of international organizations gathered in Zagreb to discuss the important issue of humanitarian demining in Ukraine at the International Donors’ Conference. It turned out to be extremely rich in good news," Svyrydenko said.

The new aid was announced at the conference:

• Prime Minister of Croatia Andrej Plenković announced his decision to provide EUR 5 million to Ukraine for humanitarian demining;
• José Manuel Albares, Minister of Foreign Affairs, EU and Cooperation of Spain, said that Spain would allocate EUR 1.5 million to support humanitarian demining in Ukraine;
• the Swiss government will allocate over EUR 100 million for humanitarian demining in Ukraine over the next 4 years;
• Norway will allocate about EUR 20 million through NGOs and UN agencies;
• Slovenia will allocate an additional EUR 500,000 for demining activities in Ukraine - the country plans to provide funds next year;
• Slovakia hopes to raise EUR 1.5 million through civil society engagement and fundraising;
• The Austrian federal government has decided to provide EUR 2 million for demining in Ukraine;
• Sweden has announced that it is allocating an additional EUR 12.5 million to the Danish Refugee Council for the demining program in Ukraine over the next 3 years.

In total, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine's partners have allocated almost half a billion euros for demining.

"It is symbolic that the conference on demining in Ukraine was held in Croatia. Just 30 years ago, this country faced challenges caused by war and landmines. And just look at Croatia today. It is a prosperous EU country with a wealth of experience in demining. I am confident that Ukraine will achieve no less success and in the future will be able to export its experience and developments in the field of demining," Svyrydenko said.

• Earlier, Natalia Humeniuk, head of the Joint Coordination Press Center of the Southern Defense Forces of Ukraine, said that the problem of mining the Black Sea is a concern for all countries that have access to it.