France will allocate a budget of five million euros to non-governmental organizations in Morocco to provide relief after Friday’s earthquake, it was announced on Monday.
The Paris government’s assistance was announced by Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, stressing that there is no French interference in aid plans on the ground.
“Morocco is a sovereign country and it is up to the country to organize the aid,” Catherine Colonna said on the BFMTV news channel, adding that the country “did not refuse any aid,” including from France.
The head of French diplomacy also appealed not to generate “false controversies” at a time when “people need help,” ruling out diplomatic disputes with Moroccan authorities.
Morocco initially announced that it would accept aid from just four countries after the massive earthquake that hit the country on Friday: Spain, the United Kingdom, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
“As intervention operations progress, as the assessment of possible needs evolves, this may lead us to resort to offers of support proposed by other friendly countries, depending on the needs of each phase,” a statement later said. Agency EFE on Sunday.
The earthquake, which struck the Marrakech region on Friday, has caused at least 2,122 deaths and 2,421 injuries, according to the latest official preliminary data.
The earthquake, whose epicenter was recorded in the town of Ighil, 63 kilometers southwest of the city of Marrakech, was felt in Portugal and Spain and reached a magnitude of 7.0 on the Richter scale, according to the National Institute of Geophysics of Marrakech. .
Source: DN
