DISINFO: EU aid to Moldova will not be used for pensions and health but will go to NGOs
SUMMARY
Financial assistance from the EU in the amount of 87 million euros allocated to Moldova will not get into the state budget but will be sent to various NGOs.
RESPONSE
Recurring disinformation narrative about European assistance, suggesting that it is not important, because it goes to different organisations, not directly in the state budget. This claim is also in line whit a recurring narrative claiming that only Russia and China provide real support. Read a similar case here. The EU Ambassador to Moldova, Peter Michalko, explained, in an interview for Deutsche Welle, that these 87 million euros are not new allocations, but money from current EU projects in Moldova, which will be redirected, in part, to mitigating the effects of the Covid-19 crisis on the population, including buying medical supplies and opening credit lines at banks for small entrepreneurs. More information here. At the request of the StopFals.md, the Delegation of the European Union to Moldova provided more details related to this assistance: "87 million euros are available for Moldova from projects that are either ongoing or planned. They will support the urgent, short-term emergency response to the crisis and the resulting humanitarian needs and provide assistance to overcome the economic and social consequences. These resources are intended to help the Moldovan citizens directly in overcoming the challenges created, and are also looking into long term improvement of the lives of people via economic and social development. Such assistance does not represent a direct transfer of funds into the budget of the Republic of Moldova, it is there to provide necessary tools to improve the situation created by COVID-19, from health, social and economic perspective.” The Delegation also mentioned that the European Commission has announced, for Moldova, the intention to propose for the approval of the European Parliament and Council a package of 100 million euros of macro-financial assistance. Further debunking about EU aid to Moldova in the COVID-19 crisis find in the StopFals.md article.