Growth facility for the Republic of Moldova

MEPs request additional community support for the Republic of Moldova.

Bogdan Matei, 31.01.2025, 13:50

Western analysts and political decision-makers alike agree that the Republic of Moldova (an ex-Soviet state with a majority Romanian-speaking population) is the most fragile of Ukraine’s neighbors invaded by the Russian troops. The pro-Western Moldovan president Maia Sandu and the government led by Dorin Recean manage, however, to keep it afloat and are taking steps on the path of European integration, a target which, last year, after a referendum, was also included in the Constitution. The target of a hybrid war, orchestrated by Moscow and seasoned with intense false propaganda, subjected to repeated attempts at political destabilization, host, even if temporary, to numerous Ukrainian refugees, to whom it must ensure living conditions, the Republic of Moldova would not have resisted, in the last three years, without the consistent support of neighboring Romania and of the West, in general. On Thursday, the specialized commissions of the European Parliament adopted the legislative report of the Romanian MEP Siegfried Mureşan from the Liberal Party, in the Bucharest governing coalition, and affiliated to the European People’s Party (PPE) regarding the Growth Facility for the Republic of Moldova, worth almost two billion Euros.

The report calls for an increase in pre-financing, from 7%, as stipulated in the proposal submitted by the European Commission, to 20% of the total amount. According to Mureşan, ‘it is important that these funds reach the Republic of Moldova as soon as possible, in order to finance roads, hospitals, bridges and to modernize the public administration. These are measures that lead to an increase in people’s living standards and accelerate European integration. These are measures that help the Republic of Moldova get over the economic and energy crisis caused by the new gas delivery blackmail launched by the Russian Federation’. He also added that the European Union can be safe and stable only if the Republic of Moldova is also safe, stable and energy independent. That’s why our objective, of the European Union, is to help the Republic of Moldova to get modernized, develop and get rid of energy dependence on Russia, the Romanian MEP went on to say.

‘Out of the total amount of 1.92 billion Euros, 420 million will be allocated to the component of non-reimbursable grants for the Republic of Moldova, and the remaining 1.5 billion represent loans guaranteed with the support of the European Union’ explained, in his turn, the MEP Dan Barna, a Save Romania Union (USR) member and a RENEW rapporteur for this file. The vote in the European Parliament paves the way for the so-called trilogue process between the Commission, the Council and the European Parliament, in which the final form of the legislation regarding the support for Chişinău will be decided. The trilogues are scheduled to start in February, and the final vote could be given in the plenary session of the EP in March. (LS)