site.btaEU Commissioner Sinkevicius: Bulgaria Yet to Ask for Support under EU Civil Protection Mechanism after Black Sea Coast Floods

European Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius told Nova TV that Bulgaria had not asked yet for support under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, which would at least partly compensate the September 5 flood damage on the southern Black Sea coast. The Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries is visiting Bulgaria on Thursday.

Bulgaria has three months to apply for support under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. A decision is made on the basis of the scope of the disaster and the money is paid as a lump sum.

Sinkevicius said the funds could be earmarked for various expenditures, such as infrastructure. He knows of 12 bridges destroyed by the flood and hopes that Bulgaria will manage to use the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.

Climate change cannot be blamed for every single extreme weather event, but it leads to more frequent extreme events, making them more severe and longer lasting, said the Commissioner.

The flood in Tsarevo on September 5 claimed four lives and caused damage in the range of BGN 25 to 30 million, the town's Mayor Georgi Lapchev said after a meeting of the local disaster taskforce.