The European Union Solidarity Fund (EUSF) was set up to respond to major natural disasters and express European solidarity to disaster-stricken regions within Europe. Payments from the EUSF take the form of a financial contribution and are limited to financing measures alleviating non-insurable damage, not compensating for private losses.
The devastating earthquake that hit Zagreb City, Zagreb County and Krapina-Zagorje County on 22 March 2020 caused considerable damage to infrastructure and buildings. On the basis of the collected damage assessment data, the Government of the Republic of Croatia submitted an application to the European Commission for assistance from the Solidarity Fund.
Croatia has been granted EUR 683.7 million under the EUSF to alleviate the consequences of the devastating earthquake in Zagreb and the surrounding areas on 22 March 2020. The Government has adopted a Decision on the distribution of the financial contribution from the EUSF, designating the Ministry of Culture and Media as the responsible authority for the implementation of projects in the field of cultural heritage protection.
Until the end of June 2021, the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration and the Ministry of Culture and Media signed 10 Grant Agreements for the implementation of cultural heritage protection measures to repair the damage caused by the devastating earthquake that had hit Zagreb City, Zagreb County and Krapina-Zagorje County on 22 March 2020.
The Grant Agreements envisage funds for renovating the buildings of judicial authorities at 10 locations in the centre of Zagreb:
- Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia, Trg Nikole Zrinskog 3, 3/1
- State Attorney’s Office of the Republic of Croatia, Gajeva 30a
- Complex of the County Court, the High Criminal Court and the Commercial Court in Zagreb, Trg Nikole Zrinskog 5, Amruševa 2, Petrinjska 8, Petrinjska 12
- High Commercial Court, Berislavićeva 11, 11/1
- Ministry of Justice and Public Administration, Maksimirska 63
- Municipal Criminal Court in Zagreb, Ilica 207
- Municipal Criminal Court in Zagreb, Juvenile Division, Ilica 207 b
- Municipal State Attorney’s Office - Criminal Department, Selska 2
- High Administrative Court of the Republic of Croatia, Frankopanska 16
- County Court in Zagreb and the State Attorney’s Office, Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime (USKOK), European Public Prosecutor’s Office – European Delegated Prosecutors, Ilica 207a.
The funds allocated under this programme are intended for immediate protection measures, surveying services, development of survey reports, documentation for the implementation of measures for the protection of cultural heritage damaged by the earthquake, and works to safeguard and stabilise cultural heritage as a protection and preservation measure.
