North Macedonia’s government welcomes the adoption of a package of €70 million under the Instrument for Pre-Accession (IPA II) to help fund the access of Western Balkans partners to COVID-19 vaccines procured by EU member states.

“The EU is our most important and closest friend in all stages of the pandemic. We welcome the decision for securing €70 million to help cover the costs for vaccines for priority groups of the population to be inoculated and the necessary equipment for the operation. Since vaccination started across the EU over the weekend, efforts will be strengthened for coordination paving the way for urgent access to vaccines for the Western Balkans, considered as a key step in curbing the pandemic,” Deputy PM for European Affairs Nikola Dimitrov said Monday.

The package will be disbursed in the form of grants that will help cover the cost of the vaccines for priority groups in the region, as well as necessary vaccination equipment. It will enable the Western Balkans to purchase a number of vaccines from the EU Advance Purchase Agreements with six manufacturers, with individual EU Member States sharing a part of their pre-allocated doses, the European Commission said in a press release earlier in the day.

“Throughout the pandemic, the EU has shown that we treat the Western Balkans as privileged partners. We continue to act in this spirit also in the case of vaccines, by taking steps to enable a quick start of vaccination campaigns to critical staff and most vulnerable groups in the region early on. Swift vaccination will be decisive in ending the pandemic and launching the socio-economic recovery of the Western Balkans, EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi has stated.