The European Parliament asks to increase the financial aid for Moldova and to start accession negotiations with the EU by the end of 2023, after meeting the 9 conditions of the European Commission.
Siegfried Muresan, Vice Chairman of the European People's Party, Chairman of the European Parliament's delegation to the Parliamentary Committee for the EU-Moldova Association, reported this on his social network page. He noted that the resolution for which the plenum of the European Parliament voted provides for this. The document was adopted by an overwhelming majority: 555 votes in favor, 49 against and 26 abstentions. "This shows that Moldova's European integration enjoys the support of MEPs from all corners of Europe and all pro-European political groups. Accession to the European Union is what Moldovan citizens want, and this is what the Moldovan authorities worked very hard for last year, making important progress in the reforms necessary for European integration," Siegfried Muresan stressed. According to him, Russia wants to prevent this and that is why it is trying by all means to destabilize the situation in the country and to slow down Moldova's European path. "That is why we, the European Parliament, in the resolution adopted, ask the European institutions to increase financial and technical assistance to Moldova in the near future, both to implement the reforms necessary for European integration, and to adopt new measures to support the population, as well as to counter disinformation, manipulation and other hybrid forms of aggression from the Russian Federation. In particular, we ask the European Commission to disburse as soon as possible the remaining 150 million euros of macro-financial assistance approved in 2022, as well as the 105 million euros of budget support announced by the European Commission in November 2022. We also expect the European Commission to offer as soon as possible the new support package for Moldova requested by the European Council last month. At the same time, we, the European Parliament, are in the process of approving a new macro-financial assistance of 145 million euros for Moldova, which the European Commission proposed in late November," Siegfried Muresan said. He noted that in order to strengthen support for Moldova, the European Parliament also asks for strengthening the European Union Security Hub in Moldova, including by increasing the financial allocation for this Cub, as well as introducing a sanctions regime against oligarchs who, along with Russia, want to destabilize Moldova. "Last but not least, we want to help Moldova by intensifying trade relations with the European Union and fully opening the European market to Moldovan goods and services. That is why we demand full liberalization of trade between the European Union and Moldova and the gradual integration of Moldova into the EU Single Market. By adopting these commercial measures as soon as possible, we guarantee that Moldovan citizens will feel the benefits of European integration sooner, before the actual accession to the EU," said Siegfried Muresan. // 19.04.2023 - InfoMarket.
