Skopje, 9 March 2023 (MIA) – I am especially pleased when promises are being fulfilled and deliver results. Friends are most important during a crisis, and the EU has shown that it listens to our requests, said Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski on Thursday at an event held on the occasion of the presentation of an EU grant for North Macedonia in the sum of EUR 80 million.

Kovachevski said that the grant is already available and the funds will be used for electricity bill subsidies for the citizens, support for small and medium sized enterprises, as well as for the country’s investments in the energy transition, renewable sources and energy efficiency.

In October 2022, said the PM, when the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen was in North Macedonia, she said that the EU will stand with North Macedonia and that we will overcome the crisis together.

 “We signed the Frontex Agreement and von der Leyen announced a grant of EUR 80 million. These funds are already available and will be used as part of the set of anti-crisis measures worth over EUR 760 million. According to World Bank, this is the highest amount of budget support aimed at dealing with the crisis provided by a country in the region,” said Kovachevski, adding that the government, in cooperation with all institutions and the EU, managed to prevent a price shock, enabled a stable supply of electricity, increased domestic production of electricity, and ensured a stabilization of inflation which has been dropping for three months in a row.

According to EU Ambassador David Geer, this shows that the EU fulfills its promises, that solidarity between the current and future member states is a fundamental and tangible value.

 “EU will be with North Macedonia in a time of crisis and in building a better future,” said Geer.

The EU Ambassador noted that in 2022, the EU promised to provide EUR 80 million and that it is fulfilling its promise now. Geer said that additional support will be provided for clean energy investments, as part of the EUR 1 billion package that the EU has prepared for the Western Balkans. ad/nn/

Photo: MIA printscreen