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European Commission announces Jordan aid package

The funds from this MFA will be provided as long-term loans under concessional terms...reports Asian Lite News

The European Commission has announced a proposal for a new macro-financial assistance operation for Jordan, with funding up to €500 million ($542 million).The MFA is part of the EU’s broader strategy to support neighboring countries, serving as an extraordinary instrument for EU crisis response. Specifically, the EU aims to assist Jordan in coping with the adverse effects of the war in Syria, including the influx of refugees it has hosted. The recent financial aid aims to help Jordan address its external financing requirements, bolster fiscal consolidation efforts, and enhance structural reforms.

This support is crucial for the continuation of Jordan’s ambitious reform agenda, which focuses on job creation, growth, and investment. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: “Today’s proposal is a clear indication of the EU’s ongoing solidarity with Jordan, offering up to €500 million in support during these challenging times of geopolitical instability.” Since the crisis began in 2011, the EU has mobilized approximately €4 billion in support of Jordan.

The funds from this MFA will be provided as long-term loans under concessional terms. The plan includes disbursing the funds in three installments, contingent on Jordan implementing specific policy measures agreed upon with the EU, detailed in a memorandum of understanding. These reforms may encompass improvements in economic governance, such as public finance management and tax administration, social and labor market policies, and efforts to combat fraud, corruption, and money laundering. The proposal for this fourth MFA to Jordan now awaits approval from the European Parliament and Council.

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European Commission unveils Western Balkans initiative

The EU has rededicated itself to supporting Western Balkan countries since Russia invaded Ukraine, as officials grow increasingly concerned about Moscow’s sway in the region…reports Asian Lite News

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday announced a new plan to bring the Western Balkans closer to the EU.

Speaking at the GLOBSEC Bratislava Forum, the EU’s top executive said the bloc needs to do more to reach out to aspiring members in the region, unveiling a four-point blueprint to boost local growth. The Western Balkans has long been a potential expansion area for the EU, but accession efforts have become drawn out and stalled in many cases.

“We finally realize that it is not enough to just wait for our friends outside the Union to move closer to us,” von der Leyen told a crowd of officials and think tankers from across the Continent. “We must also take responsibility to bring the aspiring members of our Union much closer to us.”

The plan, according to von der Leyen, would include efforts to further align the Western Balkans with the EU’s single market, deepen regional economic integration, accelerate judicial and anti-corruption reforms, and boost pre-accession funding.

“The Western Balkans could join our digital single market in areas such as e-commerce and cybersecurity,” the president said. “We could facilitate our trade in goods and payments,” she noted.

The EU has rededicated itself to supporting Western Balkan countries since Russia invaded Ukraine, as officials grow increasingly concerned about Moscow’s sway in the region.

“I want our single market to be a driver of change, not only for countries that have already joined the family but also for those who are still on their way,” von der Leyen argued.

Speaking right after von der Leyen, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, whose country formally started accession talks with the EU last July — 13 years after first applying for EU membership — welcomed the new pledges of support.

“Not only [do] we fully agree with what Ursula said, but we think that this is a death-or-life problem for us, for all of us,” Rama said. “We have to get something more and something has to fundamentally change in the relations between the European Union and Western Balkans if they don’t want to see Western Balkans go back again.”

Nevertheless, von der Leyen underscored that Western Balkan countries will also have to do their part in order to access new benefits.

“We want to offer to the Western Balkans some of the advantages of membership in advance. But of course, this also means that certain requirements of membership also have to be met in advance,” she said.

And, the president emphasized, Europe needs to put more money on the table in order to help improve people’s lives and smooth the integration process.

“We should,” she said, “increase the resources dedicated to the Western Balkans.”

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