CEB bank donates 1.5 mln euros to Slovenia for handling refugee crisis

The Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) has provided a donation of 1.5 million euros (1.6 million U.S. dollars) to Slovenia for its efforts to deal with the refugee crisis and promised more help in the coming days.

An agreement in the regard was signed by Slovenian Defence Minister Andreja Katic and the custodian of the CEB fund for refugees and migrants Stephan Sellen in Ljubljana on Monday, according to Slovenian Press Agency (STA).

Sellen announced the bank would provide another donation of 530,000 euros to Slovenia in the coming days, the STA report added.

Katic thanked the CEB for the assistance in helping Slovenia deal with what was a major challenge in providing for tens of thousands of refugees passing through the country.

With more than 200,000 refugees passing through Slovenia in the past month -- which is equal to a tenth of the country's population -- Slovenia can be proud of its efforts, the defence minister said.

The donation from CEB is the latest assistance from Europe intended to help Slovenia deal with the refugee crisis.

The European Commission has promised European Union funds of 10 million euros in the initial phase and the country is also getting help from European countries in the form of equipment and police reinforcements. (1.5 euros=1.6 U.S. dollars) Endit