The Committee on Budgets of the European Parliament in the evening of April 17 approved the €145 million in Macro-financial Assistance (MFA) to the Republic of Moldova by 35 votes in favor, zero abstentions and one vote against, Romanian MEP Siegfried Mureșan, who heads the European Parliament’s delegation for relations with the Republic of Moldova, announced in a press statement that is quoted by IPN.

“As rapporteur on the issue, I asked my mates from the Committee on Budgets to approve the assistance in the form proposed by the European Commission and not to make any amendment. I also asked the Committee on International Trade, which is to take a decision on this legislative proposal, to act in the same way and approve the European Commission’s proposal without any amendment. I suggested this so as to make sure that the Macro-financial Assistance is approved without delay in the European Parliament and the money reaches the Republic of Moldova in the shortest period of time possible, until the end of this year. We offer the Republic of Moldova the financial support its needs throughout this year. The Government has sufficient time at its disposal to support the people and to ensure economic stability,” stated the MEP, noting the country should be helped to overcome the faced challenges and to continue its path of European integration.

Following the Committee on Budgets’ approval, a decision is to be taken by the Committee on International Trade on April 27. The final vote in the European Parliament will be most probably given in May.

On January 24, the European Commission proposed to increase the ongoing Macro-financial Assistance to the Republic of Moldova by up to €145 million, bringing the total amount of ongoing MFA support to the country to up to €295 million.