The European Parliament approved on Monday, March 10, the establishment of new offices in Moldova and Albania, in an effort to increase its presence in Southeast and Eastern Europe, amid concerns that the war in Ukraine is weakening EU ties.
According to a document obtained by Euronews and sources familiar with the matter, the bureau, which is an administrative body of the European Parliament, "took into account the fact that, due to the ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine, it was difficult to cover Moldova and other Eastern Partnership countries from the office to be established in Kiev and that alternative solutions would have to be considered," the document states.
The European Parliament has liaison offices throughout the EU and some in non-EU countries for strategic purposes.
The European Parliament has "three operational antenna offices located in New York for relations with the United Nations, in Jakarta for relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and in Addis Ababa for relations with the African Union", the document states, with a new office in Panama to manage relations with Latin America also under development.
The new antenna offices in Chisinau and Tirana aim to foster relations with the EU by supporting local parliaments, civil society and the EU accession process, while increasing the visibility of the Parliament's activities and positions, especially on EU enlargement, the document states.
These new offices will have as their main goal to bring the institution closer to the enlargement processes, a source familiar with the matter told Euronews.
The EU as a whole has offices in many countries around the world, under the management of the European Union External Action Service (EEAS), which remains the EU's main voice outside the bloc. (A2 Televizion)
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