The Trump administration’s abrupt funding freeze on the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has sparked concerns among European allies who contributed millions of dollars to joint development projects in low-income countries.
Sweden, Norway, and the Netherlands provided a combined $15 million for joint development work overseas, which has been parked at USAID for months with no response from the administration. The funds were intended to support innovative ways to grow food without straining water supplies or relying on climate-damaging energy sources in poorer countries.
The European allies are worried that their donations will not be funneled to projects as expected or refunded, citing concerns about the financial reliability of the U.S. government under the new administration.
This issue points to the extent to which the Trump administration’s abrupt cutoff of foreign assistance and cancellation of contracts for humanitarian and development work are raising questions about Washington’s financial reliability.
The State Department and USAID did not respond to questions about how many foreign governments had money going unspent and unrefunded in the USAID funding freeze, or what measures the administration was taking to address the issue.
Source: https://apnews.com/article/usaid-trump-foreign-aid-sweden-norway-netherlands-d193b14df4a6a01b5b9c9c1d290b3e32