European Commission - Directorate-General for European Neighbourhood Policy & Enlargement Negotiations

03/20/2023 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 03/20/2023 06:01

International Donors' Conference – Together for the people in Türkiye and Syria in Brussels today

Today, in Brussels, the European Commission and the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU are hosting an International Donors' Conference to support the people in Türkiye and Syria affected by the recent devastating earthquakes.

Organised in cooperation with the Turkish authorities,the Donors' Conference will gather more than 60 EU Member States, candidate countries and potential candidates, neighbouring and partner countries, G20 members - except for Russia - Member States of the Gulf Cooperation, as well as the UN, international organisations, humanitarian actors and international and European financial institutions.

The Conference will start at 13:30 CET with opening remarks by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the Prime Minister of Sweden, Ulf Kristersson, for the Swedish Presidency. The opening session will be followed by a presentation on 'Earthquake Impact and Recovery vision' in which Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, will participate. The pledging session will be chaired by Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi, and the Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, Johan Forssell. The EU and its Member States intend to make a significant pledge for further relief, recovery, and reconstruction in Türkiye and further relief, recovery, and rehabilitation in Syria. The EU calls on other international partners and global donors to show solidarity with the people in Türkiye and Syria in these difficult circumstances by mobilising pledges in line with the scale and magnitude of the damage.

President von der Leyen and Prime Minister Kristersson will hold a press point at the end of the event at +/-17:00. The different sessions will be live on EbS. A press release announcing the final pledge will be available here after the event. More information on the EU support to the people in Türkiye and Syria can be found in this factsheet.