Fico: Government Allocating €10 million to Finance Measures against Contagion

Bratislava, March 31 (TASR) - The government has allocated €10 million for the procurement of goods and services needed to carry out measures to arrest the spread of foot-and-mouth disease in Slovakia, stated Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) after a special emergency session of the cabinet on Monday. In the company of Agriculture Minister Richard Takac (Smer-SD) and Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok (Voice-SD), Fico reported that the government has also decided to deploy professional soldiers to help the police to guard border crossings and selected structures. "We need to continue deploying professional soldiers because what information we have is not really auspicious," said Fico. The loss of a herd with 1,000 individuals will cost the state up to €7-10 million. "We're already saying that if 3,500 individuals are put down, then the losses incurred at Plavecky Stvrtok alone will amount to €60-70 million. And we still don't know what is yet to come, even though the measures are extremely thorough," added Fico. The prime minister said that he warned European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in a telephone conversation on Monday that the spread of foot-and-mouth disease beyond the borders of Slovakia and Hungary might cause a problem for Europe as a whole. "We're very close to the Czech border; we're very close to the Austrian border. That's why I agreed with the European Commission president that I'll inform her about our proposals regarding financial compensation soon. We're already talking about damage worth €60 million, and it's only going to get worse, I believe," stated Fico. mf/df