Humanitarian aid starts coming to Slovenia after severe floods
Ljubljana, 6 August - Aid is coming to Slovenia from abroad as the country is dealing with the consequences of severe floods. Lorries loaded with food and other humanitarian aid have left from Poland and Hungary on Sunday. Caritas Austria has offered financial assistance, and many Slovenians living abroad have also jumped in to help.
"First lorries with humanitarian aid for Slovenia from the Polish Red Cross took off from Poland in the morning," the Polish Embassy in Ljubljana said on Twitter. It added that volunteers from Poland were already helping on the ground.
The Slovenian Red Cross meanwhile confirmed that a lorry from Poland, delivered by the Polish Red Cross, and a lorry from Hungary, which will be delivered by members of the Hungarian Red Cross, were on their way to Slovenia. Both are loaded with food and toiletries.
In the past few days, the Slovenian Red Cross also received two lorries loaded with drinking water from its Croatian counterpart, which has been distributed throughout the country.
The organisation added that it was in talks with other national Red Cross and Red Crescent associations regarding the delivery of the necessary aid.
In addition to the assistance from Caritas Austria, Caritas Slovenia also expects aid next week from other members of the Caritas Europe network. It added that financial assistance has so far been contributed by a number of Slovenians from abroad.
The Slovenian diaspora, including the Slovenian communities in Canada and Finland, have started collecting funds as well.
"We are sincerely happy for the solidarity coming from abroad. The support of the Caritas network and Slovenians around the world is invaluable in these difficult times," Caritas Slovenia told the STA.