Sweden will provide 20,000 emergency housing to Ukraine – EURACTIV.com
Sweden will provide Ukraine and its surrounding areas with emergency accommodation in accordance with an assignment announced by the EU, Minister of Justice and Home Affairs Morgan Johansson at a press conference on Thursday.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine, Kyiv has turned to Sweden and other countries for help, mainly in the form of military equipment. In a historic decision taken in mid-March, Sweden provided Ukraine with 5,000 armored shots, 5,000 helmets, 5,000 sets of body armor and 135,000 field rations.
But now the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) will provide about 20,000 emergency homes, the procurement will take place within six months.
“The humanitarian situation in Ukraine is extremely difficult, not only in Ukraine but also in the surrounding area,” says Johansson.
– The ambition is to have the first homes in place within a couple of weeks, says Robert Wallén, head of the operations department at MSB.
The project has a budget of SEK 200 million (EUR 19 million) and is financed through the EU’s civil protection mechanism.
“This is a mechanism that aims to help each other in the EU when member states end up in various forms of crisis. It can be natural disasters or forest fires, Johansson also says. “We have used it on various occasions, such as the forest fires of 2018,” he added.
MSB is currently working on planning, procurement and purchasing of the housing units.
– It will be one of the largest MSB operations we have ever done, says Wallén.