SW News: A summit of foreign donors titled "United for the people of Turkey and Syria" was convened on March 20 in the Belgian capital of Brussels, and around seven billion euros were raised for the quake-hit nations. The European Union and Sweden organized the conference to help in the restoration of Syria's and Turkey's earthquake-ravaged areas.

Ulf Kristersson, the prime minister of Sweden, said that the money would help individuals whose lives were destroyed in a matter of seconds and minutes and that it provided hope for restoring dignity and regular life.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that her country will expand its assistance to those in need in Turkey and Syria to 240 million euros ($260 million).

In the meantime, the European Commission gave one billion euros, of which the European Investment Bank (EIB) would use half to lift the current financial restriction on Turkey. The Commission would give an extra 108 million euros ($117 million) for humanitarian aid and early recovery in Syria, where diplomatic contacts between the EU and President Bashar al-Assad have been severed since the outbreak of civil conflict in 2011.

It was estimated by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) that Syria would require $14.8 billion to recover from the earthquake and the accompanying protracted strife.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, president of Turkey, spoke to the conference virtually, telling everyone that his nation would be eternally grateful to its friends for their support and saying that he assessed the cost of the earthquake in his country at $104 billion.

Following the Donors' Conference, seven key Members of the European Parliament made a joint statement praising the European Commission and the President of the Swedish Council for collecting seven billion euros from worldwide contributors. Due to the enormity of the destruction, they also requested EU Member States, nations throughout the globe, and other international actors to strengthen their financial assistance going forward.