Within the framework of the second donor conference in Bucharest "Support Platform for Moldova", 600 million euros were mobilized.
This was stated by Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu following the event, noting that this figure is preliminary and the final result will be announced later. It should be noted that Bogdan Aurescu co-chaired on Friday, July 15 in Bucharest, together with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and French Minister of Development, Francophonie and International Partnership Chrysoula Zacharopoulou, at the second conference "Moldova Support Platform". At the same time, Moldova was represented at this event by an important ministerial delegation headed by the Minister of Labor and Social Protection Marcel Spatari. Also at the opening of the conference, the President of Moldova, Maia Sandu, presented on-line the complex of intersecting crises in which Moldova finds itself today due to the war in Ukraine. Today's event in Bucharest is a continuation of the donor conference held in Berlin on April 5, chaired by the same trio of countries: Germany, France, Romania. Representatives of 33 EU countries, the Big 7, the European Free Trade Association, more than 10 international organizations, financial institutions, European institutions and UN agencies gathered in Bucharest. The conference included a ministerial segment, as well as the simultaneous work of 5 working groups covering the following areas: the humanitarian situation of refugees from Ukraine, the fight against corruption, energy security, financial aid facilitation and border management. At the end of the meeting, colleagues in the working groups presented the results of the work, as well as specific proposals, conclusions that relate not only to the work done during these days, but also to the work they have done from Berlin, from the April conference, and in Bucharest, at today's conference. As Bogdan Aurescu noted, one of the important results of the conference is the creation of the 6th working group, which deals with the reform of public administration and public finance management. This is a priority reform area for Moldova, including in terms of the European agenda, with a direct impact on the prospects for economic development and attracting foreign investment. The Romanian Foreign Minister also drew attention to the fact that the conference in Bucharest is taking place three weeks after the meeting of the European Council at the end of June granted Moldova the status of an EU candidate. “As we know from our own experience, the accession process is very complex, it involves complex reforms based on an appropriate set of criteria. Also, the current context itself is complex. The war unleashed by Russia against Ukraine has a broad negative impact on Moldova as well,” said Bogdan Aurescu. According to him, it is, first of all, a humanitarian crisis due to the flow of refugees, for the management of which Moldova allocates important financial, administrative and human resources. Secondly, we are talking about significant economic losses due to the disruption of transport, supply chains, the impact on export opportunities and rising commodity and energy prices. Thirdly, there are also security threats that require increased border controls and the fight against illicit trafficking. He also recalled that even before the war in Ukraine, Moldova faced an energy crisis. According to the Romanian Foreign Minister, against this background, the “Moldova Support Platform” has a triple meaning. “First of all, in the short term, it mobilizes and concentrates the most consistent support, as clear as possible for Moldova, in order to be able to overcome the crises it faces. Secondly, in the medium and long term, it is designed to support the strengthening of energy security, help to rigorously promote reforms, especially those related to joining the European Union, and build a functional and viable state of law. And thirdly, in this sense, from this broad, strategic point of view, the Platform is very useful in achieving EU accession efforts, because, as you know, there is in the Opinion of the European Commission that proposes granting a candidate a status, a number of goals, a number of landmarks that actually require efforts to reform,” said Bogdan Aurescu. He noted that, therefore, the Platform should be used to support the reform efforts that Moldova will have to undertake to start accession negotiations, to move along the European path as a whole. // 15.07.2022 — InfoMarket
