Romania will activate the European mechanism RESTORE
Romania is going to activate RESTORE, a European mechanism especially created for cases of major natural disasters
Corina Cristea, 04.08.2025, 14:00
Against the dramatic situation in its north-east, Romania has for the first time decided to apply for the activation of RESTORE a European mechanism, especially designed to respond major natural disasters. The instrument allows for the rapid access of millions of Euros out of European funds for rebuilding the infrastructure, households and the small businesses in the affected area, the Minister of European Investment and Projects, Dragoş Pîslaru says. The latest flooding has left three dead in the counties of Neamț and Suceava, while thousands others have been stranded and over 13 hundred households destroyed. The latest flooding has also wreaked havoc on the local infrastructure, with 280 kilometers of road affected, two bridges and over 4000 meters of reinforced river banks destroyed. The local power grid has not remained unaffected by the fury of water with over 9 kilometers of electricity network destroyed and 31 posts broken.
According to the minister, the Government is going to also activate the EU Solidarity Fund, where Romania can access hundreds of millions of Euros for the reconstruction of the affected area, but this money is to become available within months. Minister Pîslaru has also announced that a fresh aid package is to be endorsed by the Executive in the following period, after the damage assessment has been completed. In the meantime, the State Reserves have dispatched tons of food, water, clothes, pieces of modular buildings and diesel fuel to the affected areas.
The Government has so far allotted 6 thousand Euros per family in the affected areas and all the intervention teams, consisting of doctors, firefighters and other specialized workers have been deployed to the area. These are backed by ambulances and helicopters.
“From the very onset of the flooding, Prime Minister, Ilie Bolojan, Environment Minister, Diana Buzoianu, State Secretary, Raed Arafat and the other colleagues involved have made all the necessary efforts to protect the people’s lives and minimize the effects of this regrettable disaster. Now we are going to focus on finding remedies to the material damage and make sure the reconstruction process in the area starts right away,” Minister Pîslaru went on to say. A week on from the disaster, hundreds of volunteers from all over Romania have been joining the teams of firefighters and gendarmes in an impressive attempt to support the locals who have seen their households swept away by waters. Companies and animal-protection NGOs have also joined the reconstruction efforts in the area.
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