Emergency aid to Hungary, Austria for refugee crisis
Brussels, Sep 8 (IANS) The European Commission (EC) on Tuesday announced nine million euros ($10 million) in emergency financial assistance to help Austria and Hungary to manage the refugee crisis.
The EC said in a statement that Austria on Monday received 5 million euros ($5.5 million) from the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) and another 4 million ($4.5 million) was paid on Tuesday to Hungary, Efe news agency reported.
These grants come after both countries had sought support from Brussels.
In the case of Austria, the funds will be used to increase the reception capacity for a total of 1,270 new asylum applicants and to improve the ability of the administration to manage the applicants for international protection.
Hungary, meanwhile, will allocate the aid to develop the infrastructure of reception facilities and create new amenities, to purchase more equipment for reception centres and to increase the human resources and transport capacities in the country.