On Friday 8 May, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, announced that she will be proposing a doubling of the European Peace Facility (EPF) funds for Moldova.
“Through the European Peace Facility (EPF), we have already provided €200 million worth of assistance. [...] I will also propose to Member States to double the EPF funding to €120 million annually. This would be the largest ever EPF assistance measure for any beneficiary country after Ukraine”, she announced at a press conference alongside the Moldovan President, Maia Sandu, in Chișinău.
“The European Union’s support through the European Peace Facility is essential [...]. With every investment in our security capabilities, Moldova becomes a stronger partner for regional stability, for the security of the Union’s eastern border and for the European project as a whole”, stressed Maia Sandu.
The High Representative welcomed as well the progress made by the country in the reforms it is carrying out with a view to joining the EU, underlining Moldova’s speed and determination. She also assured that “Transnistria will not be an obstacle to Moldova’s European future”. Maia Sandu detailed the country’s progress, particularly in terms of modernising the State, strengthening institutions, increasing resilience, energy security, the judicial system, the fight against corruption and media freedom.
“Our objective, our goal and our commitment remain the same: to sign the treaty by 2028. We are working towards this goal. Of course, we would like to see a decision on the formal opening of negotiations as soon as possible. In the meantime, we are working on all the clusters” of accession negotiation chapters, promised Maia Sandu.
The High Representative called for “the political opportunity or the opportunity window, that is provided by a change of governments in different countries” - implying Hungary - to be seized, pointing out that a large number of elections were due to take place in the EU over the coming months. “We should move while nobody is against Moldova, because you never know when there comes a government that might have a bilateral issue”, she added. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)