What is the Stability Pact?

The Stability Pact and MoldovaWhat is the Stability Pact? The Pact is a political initiative to encourage and strengthen co-operation between the countries of South Eastern Europe as well as to streamline existing efforts for assisting South Eastern Europe’s political, economic and security integration in Europe. The Pact does not implement the projects, which were placed under its auspices. It is an instrument to co-ordinate and possibly accelerate the projects of all its partners, such as the European Commission, NATO and OSCE, the International Financial Institutions, the member states of the European Union, other Stability Pact partners such as the United States, Russia, Hungary, Canada, Norway and Switzerland as well as all the countries of South Eastern Europe. Moldova joined the Stability Pact at the Regional Table meeting, on 28 June 2001 in Brussels, and currently serves as the regional co-chair of Working Table III (Security Issues). Under the Regional Table, its sharingsteering body, the Stability Pact has 3 Working Tables: Ш Working Table I is dealing with Democratisation & Human Rights; Ш Working Table II with Economic Reconstruction, Development and Co-operation; Ш Working Table III – Security Issues has one Sub-table dealing with Security and Defence Issues, and one Sub-table dealing with Justice and Home Affairs. So far, two Regional Conferences have taken place with the more recent one on 25 and 26 October 2001 in Bucharest: On this event, ministers and high level officials from 37 countries and 32 international organisations renewed their commitment to long term economic and social development for South Eastern Europe. A new set of 27 infrastructure projects secured donor financing of Ђ 2.4 bn, with 2 of these projects involving a total cost of Ђ 36.27 mn being implemented in Moldova. At a first Funding Conference in Brussels on 30 March 2000, Ђ 2.4 bn were raised, which translated in the so-called Quick Start Package, with a total of 244 regional projects. One year later, 82% of these projects were started, making it one of the fastest assistance packages by the international community. Moldova has, by now, been incorporated in some of these projects, which are still ongoing. ___________________