How much money Kosovo will receive from EU for overcoming crisis

Kosovo has so far managed to benefit only 5m euros from the 3.3 billion euros promised at the Zagreb Summit for the Western Balkan countries, Kosovo government officials announced.

The European Union, in its declaration of the Zagreb Summit, has confirmed support for the Western Balkan countries for overcoming the pandemic and consequences of COVID-19 (the disease caused by Coronavirus), providing EU funds with a total amount of 3.3 billion euros.

These separate tools have been said to be aimed at addressing the immediate needs of health and humanitarians caused by the pandemic of coronary and for social and economic recovery.

Acting European Integration Deputy Minister Taulant Kryeziu told Radio Free Europe that so far these funds promised for the Western Balkans at the Zagreb Summit, Kosovo has benefited 5m euros in health equipment assistance to the incumbent Ministry of Health.

Meanwhile, other funds that are expected to be undertaken are being negotiated with the European Union.

“From these funds (3.3 billion euros) Kosovo aims to benefit another 50m euros, which will be endorsed by pre-membership Instrument funds, as assistance to social and economic recovery. The European Union also aims to allocate 455m euros for economic reactivation, which will be combined with international financial institutions for the entire region. Kosovo will benefit from this package, but the amount is not yet specified”, Kryeziu says.

Meanwhile, in foreign form, Kryeziu suggests, of those promised funds at the Zagreb Summit, 750m will be provided as macrofinance assistance to the entire Western Balkans, and here Kosovo is expected to benefit 100m euros.

Kryeziu adds that these means, which will be borrowed internationally, will have to be ratified by two-thirds in the assembly, as the Constitution of Kosovo predicts.

But the current problem of these agreements and some others that are now only signed with international mechanisms remains the ratification of these agreements in the Kosovo Assembly, following the successful vote on no-confidence motion against the government.

Kosovo has shown that it has no capacity to benefit EU funds

Demush Shasha, Executive Director of the Institute EPIK, tells Radio Free Europe that the benefit of promised funds at the EU Summit is not an easy process, and as he says, Kosovo in the past has faced problems in absorption of EU funds.

He recalls in 2019 when Kosovo had lost 12m euros in EU funds dedicated to building dangerous waste deposits in Kosovo.

“We have cases showing Kosovo has not had capacity to manage EU funds”, Shasha says.

Problems in the benefit of EU funds, Shasha adds, are due to a lack of political will for the creation of a depoliticised, professional administration that would be able to hold and conduct an institutional dialogue with the European Commission and other international financial mechanisms.

The lack of political will to create the administrative capacities of institutions has brought an environment in Kosovo that does not have real administrative capacity for foreign assistance management. However, we need to be confident that institutions now face the dangers of the COVID-19 pandemic will have a focus and attention on the assistance being given to”, says Shasha.

In June 2019, the European Union Office in Kosovo had announced the annulment of a 12m-euro project for the construction of dangerous waste deposits in Kosovo. According to the EU, until the annulment of the project came after the Kosovo Municipal Assembly refused to establish depot on the territory of this municipality.

The losses of these funds at the time, representatives of civil society in Kosovo, had been viewed as the inability of the Government of Kosovo and the relevant municipal authorities to benefit from European Union financial assistance. / REL