Aid to Ukraine: Trust in NGOs is growing
Ukraine war
Many Ukrainians in Salzburg now trust the aid organizations and no longer pick up their relatives and friends from the Ukrainian border themselves. Corresponding appeals from the state of Salzburg and aid organizations are having an effect.
In the first days of the Ukraine-Russia war, many people from Salzburg and Ukraine made their way towards the Ukrainian border. They wanted to pick up their relatives and friends in the Polish refugee camps in small trucks – packed with relief supplies – in order to bring them to Salzburg.
“Government aid is too slow for relatives”
“There was a certain vacuum in the first few days. There were no state aid organizations yet. That was all under construction. Governor Wilfried Haslauer (ÖVP) reacted quickly, but the first days of a crisis always have a chaotic element when something happens so unexpectedly,” says the Ukrainian Honorary Consul in Salzburg, Martin Panosch.
But that has now changed. “I notice that there is a clear shift towards government and professional help. The Federal Agency for Care and Accommodation has ramped up its structures,” says Panosch.
“This keeps important aid corridors free”
Honorary Consul Panosch also describes this development as positive. As a result, aid corridors, including escape routes from Ukraine, would no longer be burdened. He also appeals to donate more money to organizations instead of investing in donations in kind and then driving them there yourself.
The state of Salzburg has also set up a volunteer center where those who are willing to help are referred to aid organizations. More on this in Ukraine Aid: Volunteer Center set up (March 5, 2022, salzburg.ORF.at).