The European Commission today proposed to redirect €26.2 million originally planned for Russia and Belarus to the strengthen cooperation with Moldova and Ukraine.
The funding will be offered within the 2021-2027 Interreg NEXT programs. Concretely, this funding may support the development of health services, reinforce institutional capacity of the Ukrainian and Moldovan public authorities, develop education and research projects, or finance social inclusion schemes and job training programmes for refugees.
Following the Russian military aggression against Ukraine and in line with the measures adopted by the EU, in March the Commission has suspended the cooperation with Russia and its ally Belarus in the European Neighborhood Instrument cross-border cooperation programmes (ENI CBC) and in the Interreg Baltic Sea region programme. As a result, four cross-border Interreg programs involving Ukraine and Moldova will benefit from 68% increased funding for 2022.
“Ukraine and Moldova are trusted partners of the EU and the EU is strongly committed to long term cooperation with them. Bringing people living on both sides of the external border of the EU closer to each other and strengthening the collaboration between EU regions and local stakeholders with Ukrainian and Moldovan partners is a concrete step to foster peace and security in the region”, said Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms Elisa Ferreira.
