Portugal offers to rebuild schools in war-hit Ukraine amidst increasing Russian offensive

Given the destruction caused by the Russian troops in Ukraine, the government of Portugal has decided to help the ex-Soviet state in rebuilding schools in the region of Jitomir.

On Monday, Portuguese Education Minister Joa Costa announced that his government will support the conflict-ravaged nation and that the preparatory project for the reconstruction of the educational institute "has already begun". According to Costa, in the Jitomor region alone, Russian attackers have destroyed 70 schools.

Russia-Ukraine War: Portugal offers to rebuild schools in Ukraine

The education minister, who is also part of the ongoing Lugano Conference in Switzerland, told Lusa, "We will focus our support on a specific region, Jitomir, where we already have a mapping study of schools where we can intervene." Notably, the construction of educational institutes will be carried out by Portugal and other countries. However, several schools to be renovated by Portugal are still being studied. "It will be the technical work to define our level of intervention and financial support," said the minister, reported Euractive. He further asserted that this project will ensure that there is a "balance between the recovery that Ukraine wants to be relatively fast and the principles of quality and safety of the buildings themselves."

It is pertinent to mention here that since the onset of the war between Kyiv and Moscow, millions of Ukrainians have left the country, and the Portuguese government has granted shelter to thousands of Ukrainians, including children. So far, more than 4600 students have enrolled in Portuguese schools, said the Minister. "We have had a very stable number of enrollments at the end of the 3rd period and are already at an efficiency with the enrollments for the 1st period of next year, with a very stable number of 4,700 students."

Switzerland hosts international conference on rebuilding Ukraine 

In the wake of the nationwide destruction caused by the Kremlin troops in Ukraine, the Swiss government on July 4 hosted a conference to map out a way forward for the world to help the war-hit nation recover and rebuild when Russia's war ends one day. Ignazio Cassis who is the President of the Swiss Confederation hosted embattled President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss also attended the conference among others. Meanwhile, during the conference, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal stated that his country needs $750 billion for a three-stage recovery plan. He added that Russia's invasion had directly cost the infrastructure of the country more than $100 billion. Other requests for Ukraine's reconstruction were also maintained by the Ukrainian leadership.

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