Kosovo risks losing around 300m euros

According to Finance and Transfers Ministry data sent Radio Free Europe, the total of agreements which must be ratified in accelerated procedure included five loan agreements worth 228.1m euros and two co-finance agreements worth 61m euros.

The value of these seven agreements totals 289.9m euros.

Credit agreements requiring ratification in the Assembly have nothing to do with the situation created by the COVID 19 pandemic, but there are other agreements on projects dealing with sewage treatment.

To cope with the situation created by COVIID 19, health and economics, according to data from the Ministry of Finance and Transfers, there are five agreements worth 253m euros.

Of these five agreements, says Sahin, only one has been sent to the assembly for Ratifkim, others are being negotiated or not signed.

No money without ratification of assembly agreements

International agreements, including taking over financial obligations on Kosovo's part, under the Constitution must be ratified in the Parliament with two-thirds of all MPs' votes.

Ismet Krasniqi, secretary-general in the Kosovo Assembly, has confirmed to Radio Free Europe that several international agreements have been prosecuted by the incumbent Government in the country.

One of these ongoing agreements in the Assembly is the draft law on ratification of the Financial Agreement between the Republic of Kosovo and the International Development Association for the Financial Sector Strengthening Project.

Meanwhile, other agreements which were sent to the assembly concern other projects that do not relate to the situation created by the pandemic COVID 19.

But those agreements, the Kosovo Parliament's Headship, are not reaching a agenda at one of the assembly's sessions.

The chairmanship of the final meeting has set June 4th as the possible date for holding a session, but it is not sure whether international financial agreements will be in question in the order of the day, as of June 4th, a meeting of the Parliament's Headship is expected.

Any deal must be voted by two-thirds of the vote

Kosovo Parliament Speaker Vjosa Osmani, after a meeting of the Parliament's Headship held this week, has said there is no consensus among parliamentary political parties that these agreements are prosecuted in the Assembly.

“My suggestion is with these international agreements to move forward. There has been consensus by some (the parliamentary groups), but unfortunately since the agreements require two-thirds there is not much room for them to proceed immediately”, Osmani said.

“There is readiness by several parliamentary groups to sit down and find an opportunity and not block these international agreements because some of them have a specific deadline within which we can obtain funds”, it has added.

One of these agreements, which are scheduled and should be approved before June 30th, according to the Ministry of Finance, is the deal with the World Bank, worth 25.1m euros, which concerns a water supply project in Gjilan.

Bedri Hamza, a member of the Parliamentary Commission for Board and Finance from the ranks of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, tells Radio Free Europe that the PDK will not in any way prevent the ratification of these international financial agreements.

Of course, the moment these agreements are put in order for ratification days I'm saying in principle that we're pro, except for any specific issues that need to be looked at carefully because even the overwhelming part of these agreements is not free money, but are loans that Kosovo is obliged to return and we have to be careful not to charge next generations”, Hamza says.

It suggests that most of the agreements that are being finalised in terms of technical part, a large part, are as a result of the work that took place in the preliminary government led by Ramush Haradinaj.

Government relations, assembly, difficult

Acting Deputy Minister of Finance and Transfers Agim Krasniqi told Radio Free Europe that a faster political solution must be found for the agreements to be ratified.

The “Relations that were created between the assembly and the government are hampering this process. The Assembly is refusing to take any obligation, so here's the process. In these circumstances without a government that co-operates with the Parliament and without two-thirds of the vote being secured, a portion of these funds are threatened to lose”, Krasniqi says.

International Commission Negotiation by Occupational Government Confirmed

But, as analyst Eugen Cakoli says, from the Democratic Institute of Kosovo, the incumbent government may object to negotiating international agreements, including taking over financial obligations from the Republic of Kosovo.

There is no provision in constitutional and legal terms that prevents the government from interacting with the Assembly. But the other current problem is the interpretation that has been made by a part of parliamentary parties which have justly raised into question the lack of legitimacy the government has in office to enter either international agreements with other parties in the name of Kosovo until the same has been dismissed on the part of the Parliament”, Calcoli says, for Radio Free Europe.

International factor calls for quick strike of agreements

The European Union's office in Kosovo, the heads of EU missions, the ambassadors of Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in Kosovo, have called for ratification of the negotiated financial agreements with the EU, its member states and international financial institutions.

“We believe that at this time of great uncertainty, all sides should put aside differences and work together in behalf of people”, it has been said among other things in a statement by the above-mentioned institutions.