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Latvia expected to contribute 3.5 mln euros for refugees in Turkey

Xinhua, March 22, 2016 Adjust font size:

Latvia is expected to provide 3.5 million euros (about 3.92 million U.S. dollars) in total as its contribution to the Facility for Refugees in Turkey, a 3-billion-euro support mechanism agreed by the European Union (EU) in exchange for Ankara's efforts to curb the flow of migrants into Europe.

Latvia will be making its payments to the support mechanism in installments, starting from this year to the fourth quarter of 2019.

The first payment, worth 1,038,315 euros, has to be made by the fourth quarter of this year. Also, Latvia has to submit a payment schedule to the European Commission by the end of this month. The government is scheduled to decide on the issue this Tuesday.

Under the EU-Turkey deal, effective as of March 20, all migrants that have arrived in Greece by crossing the Aegean Sea, are being deported back to Turkey. In return for this, Turkey will receive from the EU 3 billion euros to improve conditions at the refugee camps. The sum can be doubled by 2018, though.

Asked if this means that Latvia's contribution might eventually grow from 3.5 million euros to 7 million euros, Foreign Ministry representative Raimonds Jansons said that it is up to the European Council and the Latvian government to decide on the final amount to be provided to Turkey.

EU leaders managed to reach an agreement with Turkey on a mechanism for refugees' return after lengthy debates at last week' s summit. Endit