August 23 (SeeNews) - The European Commission (EC) will allocate 26.2 million euro ($26.2 million) to strengthen cooperation with Moldova and Ukraine, the EU delegation to Moldova said.
The funding will help support the development of health services and improve the institutional capacity of Ukrainian and Moldovan public authorities, the EU delegation to Moldova said in a social media post on Monday.
The funds will also finance the development of education and research projects or social inclusion systems, as well as vocational training programmes for refugees in Moldova.
On August 1, the Commission announced that it has disbursed the first installment of 50 million euro under a macro-financial assistance (MFA) package to help Moldova address its urgent financing needs and support overall macroeconomic stability.
Moldova has welcomed nearly over a million refugees from neighbouring Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24, according to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Many have moved on but 90,000 have stayed in the country of 2.7 million people.
On June 23, the European Council decided to grant EU candidate status to Moldova and Ukraine.
($=0.9992 euro)