Slovenia formally calls for EU and NATO help to alleviate catastrophic flood damage

The Government of Slovenia formally requested this Sunday the European Union and NATO for help to alleviate the catastrophic damage caused by floods and landslides caused by torrential rains that have devastated the country in recent days. The emergency services have verified “enormous” damage to the country's infrastructure (roads, railways, bridges, sewage systems and buildings) in the last few hours..

The country's prime minister, Robert Golob, has described the floods as the biggest natural disaster in the last 30 years and estimates a cost of 500 million euros to repair the damage caused by the rains..

With the activation of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, Slovenia has requested 30 excavators between 7.5 and 17.5 tons and 30 special vehicles to regulate watercourses, as well as the dispatch of engineering teams for all the equipment and of 20 precast bridges of up to 40 meters each.

It has also requested five heavy military helicopters with a five-ton load capacity and 200 soldiers to carry out protection and rescue tasks from NATO..

For its part, Croatia has already lent aid to its neighboring country, providing assistance with a military helicopter to help close and secure a breached dam on the Mura River..

“Given the latest request for assistance from Slovenia due to the flood emergency, we have immediately activated the Civil Protection Mechanism,” the European Commissioner for Emergency Management, Janez Lenarcic, explained in his X account.. “The first list of needs has already been sent to our member states, which mainly comprises heavy machinery and engineering units to operate them,” he added.