Εuropean Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed her satisfaction and optimism over the latest developments regarding a coronavirus vaccine in statements to Greek public broadcaster ERT.
She also stated that, as of Tuesday, November 17, Greece will have access to a large sum from the SURE programme, which will help companies and employees affected by the pandemic. "I have good news for Greece. As of Tuesday, Greece will have access to 2.0 billion euros through the SURE mechanism. In total, it will have access to 2.7 billion euros. It is a lot of money for a good cause. The aim is to tell healthy companies to keep the workforce in the company, not to fire them and we will subsidise part of the salary if they do not have enough work," she noted.
Regarding the disbursement of NextGenerationEU money, she said that "Greece has access to the recovery fund, what we call NEXTGENERATION EU, in total to 31 billion euros. It is really important for Greece but also for the other 26 member-states."