Brussels - The European Commission said it would give four million euros in emergency aid to help the Democratic Republic of Congo cope with conflict in its troubled east.
"We are facing a critical humanitarian situation," spokesperson John Clancy told journalists in Brussels. "The commission can announce emergency financial aid of a total four million euros."
He said 12-million euros out of the 514-million euros earmarked for Congo under the European Commission's 2008-2013 spending plans would specifically go towards helping the population of the war-torn east of the country.
While some ONGs have withdrawn from there to Rwanda, Clancy said the commission's humanitarian flights to the Nord-Kivu region would continue and even increase if necessary.
EU Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Louis Michel was wrapping up a two-day trip to Congo on Thursday in order to determine the vast central African country's aid needs in the wake of the recent unrest.
Clancy said Michel would leave on Thursday for the Rwandan capital Kigali ahead of a meeting on Friday with President Paul Kagame. - Sapa