The European Commission will hold a high-level political dialogue on February 26, as part of a new strategy to support the eastern regions of the European Union (EU), bordering Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.
The decision on the strategy was taken at today's meeting of the College of EU Commissioners.
At a meeting in March, financial institutions will sign a declaration on the launch of the “EastInvest” mechanism. It aims to ensure economic growth in the mentioned regions and will allow them to improve their access to finance. Loans will be provided by the European Investment Bank and other international financial institutions, as well as by a number of national and regional development banks. The EU will also rely on cooperation with the World Bank for investment.
Several regions in nine EU countries – Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria – have suffered particularly from hybrid warfare, armed migration, economic and trade problems and demographic decline.
