According to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the funds will be used to finance clean investments from the environmental point of view and without compromising the sovereignty of the recipient States.

From a pragmatic perspective, the EU’s positioning is seen as a geostrategic response to other powers, especially in view of the international advance of China’s initiatives under the umbrella of the New Silk Road.

“The aim of Global Gateway is to give countries a better choice. Because for many countries around the world, investment options are not only limited, but all come with a lot of fine print and very high cost,” Von der Leyen argued.

No country, he acknowledged, should be faced with a situation where the only option for financing its critical infrastructure is to sell its future.

“Global Gateway has the size to make a difference. And, just as importantly, it establishes a new approach to major infrastructure projects,” he said.

The plan, she said, backed projects to manufacture vaccines, install solar and wind farms, as well as lay fiber optic cables under the Black Sea to Georgia and Central Asia or connect railroads and electricity grids in the Western Balkans, Moldova and Ukraine.

In addition, in the next 24 hours, “we will have announcements and signatures worth hundreds of millions of euros,” the official announced.

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