EU Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi said he remains confident that Moldova will be able to implement the conditions of economic reform to get its second financial installment. In an interview for Euronews, he noted he has met President Maia Sandu and believes in her commitment.
EU Commissioner Várhelyi said that “it’s not in the interests of the EU to pursue these objectives, these objectives we have set together, with Moldova, and it is in the interest of the Moldovan people to achieve all these reforms because that will make their judicial system, their economic system, much more resilient and much more capable of recovering from the COVID crisis”.
He noted that Europe will never be a safe and prosperous place until the neighborhood is also safe and prosperous. “Safe meaning recovering from the COVID crisis and prosperous meaning recovering from the economic repercussions the COVID crisis created,” he underlined.
The EU is offering €3 billion in emergency loans to ten of its neighboring countries as part of its global response to the coronavirus pandemic. Known as macro-financial assistance (MFA), the loans come with highly favorable terms and low-interest rates. The aim of the MFA is to help countries that are geographically, economically and politically close to the EU limit the economic fallout from the crisis.
To receive the money, countries must have signed up to a financing program with the International Monetary Fund, meet conditions for respecting human rights, implement democratic, economic and governance reforms and crackdown on corruption.
Moldova must meet these conditions in order to benefit from a second MFA installment of €50 million.
Last April, the EU offered Moldova an emergency loan of €100 million. The loan is accompanied by clear conditions: the first €50 million was transferred last November, while the rest will be received by the Central Bank of Moldova if reforms are started to fight corruption, to strengthen the rule of law and to optimize economic management. These conditions are supported by the President.
