A Romanian Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft left towards India, in a humanitarian mission in order to airlift medical equipment for this country which has been badly affected by the de COVID-19 pandemics.

The emergency help offered by Romania consists in the free offer of medical equipment such as: 80 concentrators, 75 oxygen tanks and 20 high flow oxygen therapy devices.

Thus, Romania joins the European and international efforts that support India, which is facing a dramatic and unprecedented situation of increased number of SARS-CoV2 cases.

The Romanian medical equipment that is to reach New Delhi is among the first ones, other medical device and medicine transportation being scheduled to come from other EU member states over the following days, as part of the European Civilian Protection Mechanism recently activated at the EU level, as part of the Team Europe efforts.

Solidarity is the key word in these difficult times. Today, the Romanian people stands by the Indian one. The Romanian Government answered quickly to the request made by the authorities of the Republic of India, send through the European Civilian Protection Mechanism for the granting of international assistance in the context of the combating of the COVID-19 pandemics, State Secretary Simona Cojocaru stated.

The aircraft took off from the 90th Air Transportation on Wednesday, around 15.00.

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The transportation costs on route Romania-India will be 75%supported by the European Civilian Protection Mechanism

Initially established in 2001 in order to consolidate the collective response of the EU to the natural disasters and crises, European Civilian Protection Mechanism is meant to facilitate, coordinate and improve the reaction of the states participating in emergency situations.

The initiative includes the EU member states and 6 states outside the EU: Island, Norway, Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Turkey. The mechanism can be activated at the request of each participating state. The cost of the assistance flight is 75% covered by the European Commission. Up to present, the Mechanism has been used 420 times to request assistance both within and outside the EU.

Team Europe is a mechanism which appeared within the EU in the context of the pandemics with a view of ensuring coherence and visibility to the EU efforts outside the union, by means of a better articulation of all support and assistance instruments used by the EU for the help of the third countries as well as through an increased coordination with the national support initiatives of all member states.

As a response of the EU to the global pandemics, Team Europe mobilized so far 38.5 billion Euros in support of the partner states for their combat against COVID-19. Currently, the European institutions aim at extending Team Europe's area to the EU external cooperation programs for the 2021-2027 timeframe. The Team Europe Initiatives will consist in European projects and initiatives in relation to third states or at multilateral level.

The Press Office