The delay in concluding the constitutive session and forming the government could cost Kosovo the loss of around 100 million euros by the end of the year, funds pledged to Kosovo by the European Union.
KOHË's Brussels correspondent, Augustin Palokaj, assessed that any delay in the creation of institutions increases the risk of losing more funds from the Growth Plan.
"Now the loss will not be estimated in tens of millions, but in hundreds of millions of euros, since Kosovo has missed several deadlines. It reported in July on the fulfillment of several criteria, for which it was supposed to report in June, and the Commission is only expected to confirm how much money has been lost. In fact, the possibility is being considered that the funds that Kosovo does not put into operation be given to other countries," said Palokaj.
The risk of this has also been warned by Jeton Zulfaj, who is the National Coordinator for the Instrument for Reforms and Economic Growth.
According to him, the failure to implement the steps of the Reform Agenda, which foresees a total of 111 such steps, is related to the lack of functional institutions, as some of them must be approved by the Assembly.
"With these 18 steps that we have implemented, there have been a total of 79 steps by December. But when we remove these 18 steps, it turns out that in December there are still 61 other steps left, which must be implemented by December 31. And the amount that is calculated that could be lost at the end of December, if the steps that have a deadline of December 31 are not implemented, could be over 100 million euros," said Zulfaj.
Kosovo has already lost several million, after failing to fulfill its obligations, which had a deadline of the end of June and mid-July.
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Zulfaj on EU funds: If we don't have institutions, we could lose another 100 million euros
The Growth Plan for the Western Balkans is a European Union financial package worth 6 billion euros, of which over 880 million euros are foreseen for Kosovo in the form of grants and favorable loans.
The release of funds is done in installments and is conditional on the implementation of the Reform Agenda, which includes measures in the areas of rule of law, governance, economic development and integration into the European single market. Some of these reforms require approval by the Assembly, which has been largely dysfunctional for a year and a half.
Egzona Mema
