EU approves €50 million aid for farmers hit by extreme weather – Greece not included
The aid will benefit growers in Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Romania — but notably, Greece is not among the recipients, despite also suffering weather-related agricultural damage.
The financial package, drawn from the EU’s agricultural reserve fund, targets producers of fruit, vegetables, and nuts who faced significant crop losses due to late frosts, hailstorms, and heavy rainfall earlier this year.
The funds will be distributed as follows:
Poland: €14.8 million
Romania: €11.5 million
Hungary: €10.8 million
Bulgaria: €7.4 million
Latvia: €4.2 million
Lithuania: €1.1 million
Member states will have the option to top up this aid with national funds by up to 200%. Payments to farmers must be made by April 30, 2026, to ensure timely relief.
The Commission explained that the affected countries experienced unseasonably warm weather in early spring, followed by sharp temperature drops, frost, and in many cases, hail and torrential rain — all of which severely damaged crops such as apples, cherries, plums, berries, nuts, and various vegetables.
In Bulgaria, for example, warm temperatures in February caused premature blossoming, only to be followed by damaging frosts in March and April. Similarly, in the Baltic countries, early heat led to rapid crop growth, which was later devastated by sudden frosts and flooding.
In Hungary and Poland, widespread frost events in April and May were followed by hailstorms, resulting in heavy losses across key crops. Romania also reported extensive damage to fruit trees caused by frostburn on buds and blossoms.
Greece left out of emergency support
Despite experiencing its own share of extreme weather in recent months — with floods and storms hitting several farming regions — Greece is not included in this round of emergency funding. The last time Greece received similar support from the EU agricultural reserve was in 2023, when it was granted €43.1 million.
The Commission did not specify why Greece was excluded from the latest aid package.
