Vice-Chancellor and Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger announces additional humanitarian help to alleviate refugee crisis

02/27/2013 12:10 GMT

VIENNA, Feb 27, 2013 (AFP) - Austria's parliament gave the green light on Wednesday for sending a small number of troops to conflict-torn Mali to provide medical assistance and help with possible evacuations.

The medical personnel will join a German contingent travelling to Mali in mid-March to assist a nine-person EU Training Mission (EUTM), the defence ministry said in a statement following the parliamentary vote.

Austria said it might send about 20 troops and a C-130 Hercules plane to help with air cargo and evacuations.

Vice-Chancellor Michael Spindelegger announces humanitarian help for Haiti and Niger

Vienna, 11 December 2012 - "Austria is making 800,000 euros from the Foreign Disaster Relief Fund available to alleviate humanitarian distress in Niger and Haiti", Vice-Chancellor and Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger said after the session of the Ministerial Council on 11 December 2012. "We want to help people whose lives have been shattered by extreme environmental conditions and natural disasters", and he continued:

Vice-Chancellor announces increase of humanitarian aid for the Sahel

09/04/2012 11:31 GMT

Manila, Sept 4, 2012 (AFP) - The Philippines is to spend about $629 million this year on projects aimed at boosting its defences against deadly floods, a government agency said Tuesday.

The move follows last month's heavy rains, which submerged large areas of the main island of Luzon including about 80 percent of Manila, killing at least 99 people and forcing about half a million people to flee their homes.

Austria has granted a 100 million U.S.Dollars financial assistance package for economic development in Sri Lanka. The package is in the form of a grant and a soft loan.

The 65 million U.S.Dollars soft loan portion will carry a 2% interest and have to be repaid over a period of 30 years. The balance 35 million U.S.Dollars will be a grant

State Secretary Wolfgang Waldner announces increase in humanitarian aid for Syria

Vienna, 21 July 2012 – “The people in Syria and the tens of thousands of Syrian refugees in the neighbouring countries depend on international support. In view of the increasingly precarious situation, Austria will step up its humanitarian efforts and raise its bilateral financial contribution for humanitarian aid measures in Syria and in the neighbouring countries of Lebanon and Jordan to a total of 1 million Euros“, State Secretary Wolfgang Waldner announced.

(Brussels/Paris, 04/04/2012)

Almost all European countries are making cuts in their aid programmes to the developing world, according to new figures released today by the OECD.

For the first time since the start of the financial crisis, 12 EU countries have slashed their aid budgets. The biggest cuts were in Spain (-32.7%) and Greece (-39.3%), with substantial decreases in Belgium (-13.3%) and Austria (-14.3%).

Vienna, 5 August 2011 – In view of the ongoing dramatic situation in the Horn of Africa Austria will step up its aid from 850,000 euros to 1.5 million euros: “The humanitarian catastrophe in the Horn of Africa calls for Austria’s solidarity with the crisis region. With its first emergency aid package in the amount of 850,000 euros Austria provided a swift response, but further steps are necessary. Austria will therefore almost double its aid, contributing a total of 1.5 million euros to international aid efforts,” said Foreign Minister and Vice-Chancellor Michael Spindelegger.