MEP Victor Negrescu stressed in his intervention in the Committee on Budgets, of which he is a member, the need to ensure the Republic of Moldova ”a faster integration into the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance”, because it is clear that this country ”is on the European path and we must do everything we can to support it”.

The Committee on Budgets discussed, on 28 March, the European Commission’s proposal to increase macro-financial assistance to Moldova by up to €145 million, bringing total support to up to €295 million.

”This proposal from the European Commission should provide Moldova with another €145 million, €100 million in loans and €45 million in grants. They need this money, but at the same time, I have to underline and we have all been in contact with the Moldovan authorities. It might not be enough, knowing the challenges they are facing”, MEP Victor Negrescu detailed.

He recalled that the S&D Group, of which he is part of, ”has always supported” the idea that strategic partners such as this country should be allocated grants and not loans, while ensuring that ”resources generate the reforms that are needed on the ground”.

”We need to make sure we have adequate and sufficient resources for this. And the revision of the Multiannual Financial Framework should also allow us to provide additional resources for this. Last but not least, we would like to ask the Commission again to provide a full update on the state of play of the implementation of macro-financial assistance, to see what we have managed to do, but also what are the other challenges we need to meet in the coming months. It is clear that the Republic of Moldova is on a European path and we must do all we can to support it. And this financial assistance is necessary in this regard”, MEP Victor Negrescu added.

The MEP also stressed that the European Union must help this partner state with “additional technical assistance”.

”I fully support the proposal of the Commission and I am sure that the Committee on Budgets will again support this proposal and that we will have additional resources for the needs of the Moldovan people in the second part of the year”, said MEP Victor Negrescu