(Hina) - Croatia's Foreign and European Affairs Minister Vesna Pusić will inform EU foreign ministers at a meeting on Monday about disastrous floods that hit Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia last week.
"We have asked that the situation in our region, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, be included on the agenda of today's meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council. We want to report on the consequences of the floods," Pusić told the press on arriving for the meeting.
Pusić said that preparations were under way to apply for damage repair assistance from the EU Solidarity Fund.
Countries that border with the European Union and have membership prospects can, together with a neighbouring country that is an EU member, jointly apply for damage compensation from that fund.
"We are defining the procedure so that Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina on the one hand and Croatia and Serbia on the other could apply for assistance from the Solidarity Fund and at least partly alleviate the consequences of this tragedy that has happened and is still happening," Pusić said.
The European Solidarity Fund was established after severe floods hit Central Europe in 2002. A country is entitled to such aid if the damage is assessed at more than 0.5% of GDP and in certain cases such entitlement is granted even where the damage is assessed below this threshold.