EU Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas proposed on Friday to double the funding of the European Peace Facility for Moldova to 120 million euros per year, noting that this would make it the EU's largest defense support package for any country after Ukraine. This was reported by Politico, according to UNN.
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Speaking alongside Moldovan President Maia Sandu in Chisinau, Kallas stated that the new proposal would significantly expand EU military aid amid growing pressure from Russia due to its war against neighboring Ukraine.
"Through the European Peace Facility, we have already provided 200 million euros in aid. I will also propose to member states to double the EPF funding to 120 million euros per year. This will be the largest aid package under the EPF for any recipient country after Ukraine,"
Any increase in funding requires approval from EU countries, which have been arguing for years over the extra-budgetary mechanism for financing military aid. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has long blocked the allocation of funds for compensation through the EPF, and previously France and Germany also expressed technical reservations.
Kallas presented the funding increase as part of a broader strategy to strengthen Moldova against Russian pressure. "Moldova remains embroiled in Russia's hybrid war," she said, pointing to attacks on energy infrastructure and repeated incursions of Russian drones into the country's airspace.
She added that a new EU-funded radar system has already arrived in Moldova and is helping to better detect Russian drones near the borders.
The EPF proposal would significantly deepen the EU's defense relationship with Chisinau. In 2024, Moldova became the first non-EU country to sign a security and defense partnership with the bloc.
"Moldova already belongs to the European community," Kallas stated on Friday, adding that a second EU-Moldova summit will soon take place in Brussels, although the date has not yet been announced.