Development of border communities // Interreg NEXT Romania-Republic of Moldova Programme 2021-2027 launched in Iasi
Projects in the border communities with Romania will be implemented in areas such as health, education and border management. The Interreg NEXT Romania-Republic of Moldova Programme 2021-2027 was launched in Iași (Romania), with a total budget of over €85 million.
The Ministry of Finance states in a press release that projects benefiting border communities throughout the Republic of Moldova and in the counties of Iasi, Galati, Vaslui, Botoșani (Romania) will be eligible for funding.
The areas targeted by this programme are: health, education, tourism and culture, climate change, good governance and border management. This will enable medical units and educational institutions to be equipped and modernised, tourist attractions to be rehabilitated and partnership projects to improve border management to be carried out.
Minister of Finance Veronica Sirețeanu said that for the Republic of Moldova these European funds are an important source of financing the development of communities.
"It is very important how this programme has actually set its priorities, because green economy, social development, with a focus on medicine, education, is very important, and of course cross-border cooperation. It is extremely important to develop this area properly. These funds can become a very nice bridgehead to show us how a region should develop with European funds," said Minister Veronica Sirețeanu.
The Interreg NEXT programme has a total budget of €85,878,268, of which €77,290,439 is non-reimbursable European funding and €8,587,829 is the national contribution.
"The main feature of the programme is that everything is based on partnership between central and local authorities in Romania and the Republic of Moldova. The four counties in Romania are the counties on the border with the Republic of Moldova, i.e. the entire territory of the Republic of Moldova. The programme follows on from the two Interreg programmes which end this year. Obviously, there will be areas that will continue this new programme," Minister Cseke Attila, Romania's Minister of Public Works and Administration, told the press, as quoted by administratie.ro.
Under the Interreg NEXT Romania - Republic of Moldova programme, for the period 2021-2027, it will be possible to equip and modernise medical establishments and educational institutions, rehabilitate tourist attractions and carry out partnership projects to improve border management. Staff in these areas will also be able to benefit from joint training and education, exchange of best practices, and information and awareness-raising campaigns will be organised for the local population on disaster prevention and response.
