But first it needs an assessment of the damage from Bratislava, he said after talks with Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic in Brussels.

"We have a solidarity fund precisely for this kind of natural disaster or other disaster that can happen in our member states," he said.

"It is now up to the authorities of Slovakia and other countries concerned to submit an objective assessment of the damage. The EU is willing to help and to support Slovakia. First we need the submission of the request."

Hundreds of thousands of trees lay scattered and broken across Slovakia's renowned High Tatras mountain range, leaving central Europe's former jewel resembling a bleak moonscape.

In the first such catastrophe in locals' memory, winds of 140-150 kilometres (85-90 miles) per hour swept through the area. Some 12,500 hectares (30,000 acres) of forest were devastated and 12,000 hectares more were seriously damaged.

The Slovak agriculture ministry estimated that around 3 million cubic metres of trees, 90 percent of Slovakia's annual wood production, were broken or uprooted.

Gasparovic said it was too early to estimate the full value of damage. "The damage caused by these winds is so huge that it will take some weeks to make a proper assessment of the entire range and the scope of the damages," he said.

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