Ulf Kristersson

The international community has collected slightly more than 6 billion euros for Türkiye and around 1 billion euros for Syria in a major donors' conference organized by the European Union to assist the victims of the Feb. 6 earthquakes and the reconstruction of 11 Turkish provinces.
 

The European Union, international financial institutions and development agencies have pledged long-term financial support to Türkiye's efforts to revive the destroyed cities and socio-economic life in the earthquake-hit region at an international donors' conference held in Brussels on March 20.

The EU, alone, has pledged 1 billion euros to quake-hit Türkiye and Syria.

A donors' conference to be jointly organized by the EU Commission and EU's term president, Sweden, will be launched on March 20 in Brussels to get pledges from the international institutions, financial bodies, countries and other relevant institutions for Türkiye and Syria, which have been severely hit by the earthquakes of Feb. 6.

The European Union has announced that a donors' conference for Türkiye and Syria after devastating earthquakes will take place on March 20 instead of March 16 in Brussels.

Finland and Sweden remain committed to joining NATO at the same time despite Turkey's opposition to the Swedish candidacy, the two countries' prime ministers told a joint news conference in Stockholm on Thursday.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday it was "meaningless" to hold a trilateral meeting with Sweden and Finland to discuss their NATO bids after protests this month in Stockholm.

Speaking at a news conference, Cavusoglu also said there is no offer to evaluate Sweden's and Finland's NATO membership separately.

Here are the highlights of events related to the war in Ukraine over the past 24 hours:

Sweden is sending dozens of armored vehicles and elite Archer howitzers to Ukraine

The Swedish government announced a new military aid package for Ukraine on Thursday, which will include armored infantry fighting vehicles and the Archer artillery system.

"We support the membership of Bulgaria and Romania in Schengen, because the Balkan countries play a very important role for us," Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, whose country currently holds the EU presidency, told the plenary hall of the European Parliament.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on Jan. 13 denounced a demonstration by PKK terror organization in central Stockholm, where the supporters of the group hung a puppet from its legs that depicted President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, as 'disgusting' and an act of "sabotage" against Sweden's bid to join NATO.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on Friday denounced a protest by Kurds in central Stockholm, where an effigy of Turkey's president was hung from a lamppost, as an act of "sabotage" against Sweden's bid to join NATO.