Chișinău faces mounting pressure from Russia’s ongoing invasion of neighboring Ukraine.
EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas on Friday proposed doubling European Peace Facility funding for Moldova to €120 million annually, noting the boost would make it the bloc’s biggest defense support package for any country outside Ukraine.
Speaking alongside Moldovan President Maia Sandu in Chișinău, Kallas said the new proposal would sharply expand EU-backed military assistance as Moldova faces mounting pressure from Russia’s ongoing invasion of neighboring Ukraine.
“Through the European Peace Facility, we have already provided €200 million worth of assistance,” Kallas said. “I will also propose to Member States to double the EPF funding to €120 million annually. This would be the largest ever EPF assistance measure for any beneficiary country after Ukraine.”
Any increase would require approval from EU members, who have spent years squabbling over the bloc’s off-budget mechanism for financing military assistance. Outgoing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán spent years blocking efforts to free cash for EPF reimbursements, and in the past France and Germany have raised objections on technical grounds as well.
Kallas framed the cash boost as part of a broader effort to harden Moldova against Russian pressure. “Moldova remains caught in Russia’s hybrid war,” she said, pointing to attacks on energy infrastructure and repeated Russian drone incursions into Moldovan airspace.
A new EU-funded radar system has already arrived in the country, she added, helping Moldova improve detection of Russian drones near its borders.
The EPF proposal would significantly deepen the EU’s defense relationship with Chișinău. In 2024, Moldova became the first non-EU country to sign a security and defense partnership with the bloc.
“Moldova already belongs to the European community,” Kallas said Friday, adding that Brussels will soon host a second EU-Moldova summit, though no date has yet been announced.