EU funds for Kosovo expired?

January left, February's fifth day came, but the election process has not yet been finalised in Kosovo, as a condition for the establishment of new institutions.

Under these circumstances, around 900m euros -- European Union funds -- are still waiting for the entity of MPs to be allocated to Kosovo.

From the European Union say that despite delays, Kosovo still remains qualified to receive up to 882m euros under the Development Plan.

According to them, delays are taking place due to the non-formation of institutions in Kosovo following two election processes last year.

And, in the incumbent government, they say that following the formation of new priority institutions is the vote of international agreements, including the Development Plan.

The executive states that, despite the means not shared, they are continuing to work towards implementing the agenda of reforms agreed with the EU on this deal.

The European Commission's spokeswoman, Anitta Hyper, tells Kosovo that it is in the interest of Kosovo that the ratification of international agreements will happen as soon as possible to exploit all options under the Growth Plan.

According to her, without getting the green light of these deals, Kosovo cannot apply for payment under reforms.

Kosovo was among the first Western Balkan partners to approve its Reforms Agency required by the EU Growth Plan, which was approved by the European Commission in October 2024. Therefore, Kosovo remains qualified to receive up to 882m euros in funds under the Development Plan, depending on the entry into force of agreements related to the Facebook for Reform and Growth, as well as all other conditions for pay.

Due to the delay in forming institutions, agreements concerning the Constitution for Reform and Growth have not yet entered into force. Without ratification of the agreements, Kosovo cannot apply for payment under the Constitution for Reform and Growth. Faciality for Reform and Growth is a limited-time instrument, adopted for the period 20245027, and it is in Kosovo's interest that ratification takes place as soon as possible to fully exploit all options under the Development Plan, for the benefit of its population”, is said in its response to Kosova Press.

On the other hand, Klisman Cadiu, deputy prime minister in charge of European Integration, Besnik Bislimi, says delays in adopting EU means for Kosovo occur because of the unwillingness of opposition parties to move to the past legislature.

According to him, despite the means not being supplied to Kosovo, the incumbent government is working on implementing reforms agreed with the EU on the Development Plan.

The incumbent “government, while the Assembly was formed, prior to early elections, proposed the vote of international agreements, including the Growth Plan, from which Kosovo will benefit about 882m euros and the initial pre-financement of over 60m euros. The opposition refused to vote on it, holding back the agreement's approval and beginning the release of EU funds for Kosovo. Had there not been an irrational impasse on the part of the opposition, Kosovo would have received the amount of pre-finance today. Once the new institutions are formed, the international agreement voting priority will still be among them the Development Plan. In the meantime, the government continues its work towards implementing the agenda of reforms agreed on with the EU on the Growth Plan, which we also report towards the Union on regular grounds about the continuation and advancement of reforms”, Cadiu declares in response to KosovaPress.

But, despite the fact that Kosovo is late in ratification of agreements with the EU, according to European Integration Professor Dritaro Arifi, these deals have still expired.

According to him, only 65m euros are safe as pre-finance tools, while the rest must be testified through reform implementation.

We're just late. We are more than a year late in ratification of two agreements with the European Union, but that's not all. A total -- a set-up of 61m euros to start reforms -- has been envisioned. We still haven't started reforms and this first advance depends on ratification of the two agreements to start reforms. Any other means of visiting the government must prove that the undertaken reforms are complete. It's not that simple to get those funds, because we're thinking that 880m euros will be received immediately, but no. We only take 61 million immediately and the rest must be testified, identified and confirmed that reform has been approved. Even if we had the government today, we would have to work at the speed of light, and we could achieve reforms by the time”, he added.

The desource of pre-finance means for Kosovo is related to the adoption of two international agreements in the Assembly, which, due to the failure of the tenth legislature, has not yet occurred.

The growth plan is a new EU framework for accelerating reforms for European integration across the region, which combines reforms with direct financial contributions from EU funds to the budgets of profitable countries and investment projects. With the implementation of these reforms, Kosovo will benefit up to 882.6m euros in EU funds. Of this total amount, 253.3m euros are grants, while the rest of the 629.3m euros are long-term loans./Periscopi/