The Commission of the European Union wants to create flexibilities to continue the European Neighborhood and Interreg cross-border cooperation programs with Ukraine and Moldova, which have faced severe disruption since the start of the Russian invasion of the Ukraine at the end of February this year.

The Commission intends to provide flexibilities by funding 100% of all these EU-funded programs in Ukraine and Molodova, which it has deemed crucial to support schools, hospitals, social services and institutions local authorities, reports SchengenVisaInfo.com.

Commenting on the proposal, Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms Elisa Ferreira said that many cross-border projects had been halted due to Russia’s brutal and unwarranted invasion of Ukraine, while the implementation many others had been seriously questioned.

“However, these programs are essential to provide support to regions neighboring the EU, as well as to the Ukrainian and Moldovan population. With this proposal, we are introducing new flexibilities, which will allow many of these projects to continue despite the difficult circumstances. This will benefit Ukrainians and Moldovans – as well as their EU partnerssaid Commissioner Ferreira.

At the same time, the Commission wishes to continue on its side the implementation of the cross-border cooperation projects with Russia and Belarus which were interrupted at the beginning of March this year.

Until then, the EU was funding Russia with EUR 178 million for eight programs and Belarus with an additional EUR 257 million for two programs, namely “Kolarctic”, “Karelia”, “South- Eastern Finland/Russia”, “Estonia/Russia”, “Latvia/Russia”, “Lithuania/Russia”, “Poland/Russia”, “Latvia/Lithuania/Belarus” and “Poland/Belarus/Ukraine”.

“The suspension of all cross-border and transnational programs and payments to Russia and Belarus and, at the same time, the strengthening of support for Ukraine is a concrete expression of European policy solidarity and cohesion with the Ukrainian peoplesaid Commissioner Ferreira at the time.

However, the Commission now wants to reinstate the programmes, thus funding a total of thirteen cross-border cooperation programs and two transnational programs between nine EU Member States, Ukraine and Moldova on one side and Russia and Belarus on the other.

Since Russia launched its aggressive military invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the EU has allocated large sums of money to help Ukraine, as well as Ukrainian refugees fleeing their homes.

Just last week, the European Council announced that the EU’s contribution to Ukraine’s European Peace Facility (EPN) will now reach €2.5 billion since member states of the EU have agreed to mobilize the 5th tranche of military assistance of 500 million euros to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Previously, the Council of the EU provided €1 billion in macro-financial assistance to war-torn Ukraine.