Von Der Leyen Promises EU Financial Aid To Italy Amid COVID-19 After Initial Inaction

Von der Leyen Promises EU Financial Aid to Italy Amid COVID-19 After Initial Inaction

GENOA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 02nd April, 2020) European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen promised to financially support Italy in its fight against COVID-19 after an initial lack of action from the European Union, which she announced in a letter published in the Italian daily La Repubblica.

"Today Europe is mobilizing to stay side by side with Italy. Unfortunately, this has not always been the case. It must be recognized that in the early days of the crisis, in the face of the need for a common European response, many have thought only of their own problems at home. They did not realize that we can only defeat this pandemic together as a Union. It was harmful and could have been avoided," von der Leyen said at the opening of her letter.

She continued by saying that in the past month, however, the European Commission has "left no stone unturned to help Italy," millions of masks were sent to Italy and Spain, search for a vaccine was funded, certain rules were suspended in order to give the Italian government more space for maneuver to act quickly and billions of investments were made for the fight against the virus.

"And we will continue to do even more. Yesterday the European Commission announced a new economic initiative, a "European layoff". Right now, millions of Italians are unable to work - but they cannot stop paying their bills or shopping. Companies continue to pay wages even if the business is stagnant ... They need support to overcome the current crisis: Europe is intervening to help them," she said.

"The Union will allocate up to one hundred billion Euros to the hardest hit countries, starting from Italy, to compensate for the reduction in the wages of those working on shorter hours," she continued.

Von der Leyen noted that all EU members would contribute to making the new financial support tool, called SURE, possible.

"I believe that Europe can emerge stronger from this situation, but we must make the right decisions - here and now. We have already taken some courageous actions. Many more will still be needed," she said.

Italy is the second hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the infection toll standing at over 115,000. Nearly 14,000 people have died there from the disease so far.