EU Enlargement Commissioner: EU started disbursing €100 million

Chisinau, July 10 /MOLDPRES/- The European Union has already started the disbursement of 100 million euros "which will reach Chisinau next week". European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Olivér Varhelyi made the statement today. He held a press conference with Prime Minister Dorin Recean. The European official said Moldova has taken important steps on the path of rapprochement with the European Union, but the hard work is just beginning.

"It is clear we are only at the beginning of our path. We need these commitments to remain and become even stronger because all the hard work is only just beginning. It was important to meet with parliament members and I had one message to all of them: from now on we will need a common political minimum, which means that all political parties need to agree on common priorities, on reforms, on European reform policies and to keep these commitments throughout the whole process, because there are many laws to be adopted by the Parliament, many political decisions will be required when we will also have to strengthen the implementation capacities. It is not enough just to pass laws, we need to have the capacity to implement these laws and rules," said Olivér Varhelyi.

The official noted that the actions implemented so far have focused on the nine conditions for initiating the negotiation process, "but from now on, in addition to the annual reporting exercise, the progress made by the Republic of Moldova will also be measured". "We are talking about tens of thousands of laws, tens of thousands of pages. Colleagues have calculated 150 thousand pages of European legislation, which means that the Moldova will have to give its opinion, to have a position on each of these laws and Moldova will have to tell us when and how it plans to implement this legislation and it is not enough to tell us when this will be implemented, but it is important to see what kind of steps are to be implemented, we want to see some credible ways to show us what the administrative capacities are, how many authorities are to be set up, how many people will be at the disposal of these authorities, how long-term plans are to be drawn up to meet all the required criteria," said the Commissioner.

The official added that the EU has started the disbursement of 100 million euros "which will arrive in Chisinau next week". Of this amount, 35 million euros are provided in the form of budget support, and another 72.5 million euros - in the form of macro-financial assistance.

Recean said that the EU money is part of the EU assistance package announced in the fall of 2022, "a package that has helped and continues to help our country overcome the economic problems caused by the war and rising energy prices, as well as to recover our economy."

"These funds will be allocated to different sectors, such as economic development, education, health, infrastructure, everything to improve the quality of life of our citizens. Thank you for this continued support which is helping us develop the country to become a EU member, bringing peace and prosperity for everyone," he said.

Referring to the first bilateral screening session held today in Chisinau, he said "it is the beginning of a difficult work". "We opened negotiations with the EU on June 25 and I express my gratitude to the European Commission which is committed to these successful negotiations with the Republic of Moldova to build a resilient, prosperous country that will become a future EU member", Recean said.

Olivér Varhelyi is visiting Chisinau.