It is almost certain that Kosovo will lose millions of euros from European Union funds due to the political stalemate, said KOHË's Brussels correspondent, Augustin Palokaj, on "Interaktiv" on Monday.
He announced that even under normal conditions it would be difficult to use the funds within the deadlines, and now because Kosovo is heading towards elections this becomes "almost impossible".
"Kosovo has lost many years due to the political stalemate last year and the EU's punitive measures that lasted almost three years. And now that the funds have been released, Kosovo lacks stable structures and institutions," Palokaj said.
Palokaj said that the over 10 million euros that will be needed to hold the early elections on June 7 are not even 1 percent of the money that Kosovo risks losing from EU funds.
"Therefore, this political crisis is unfortunate," Palokaj said.
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Palokaj: It is almost certain that Kosovo will lose hundreds of millions of euros from EU funds
In fact, it became clear to Kosovo weeks ago that it risks losing the millions planned under the Growth Plan. Kosovo was required to complete the reforms by the end of June.
The EU has reminded that the gray deadline for the steps that were supposed to be completed by mid-2025 expires on June 30 of this year. And if the deadlines are not respected, the partners (Western Balkan countries) risk losing over 700 million euros together.
Kosovo has just started receiving the first payments from the pre-financing from the Western Balkans Growth Plan last week. These first funds for Kosovo also started to be paid after many delays caused by the political deadlock in 2025 in Kosovo, when there was no possibility of ratification of the agreements for loans and funds between Kosovo and the EU in the Kosovo Assembly. According to one calculation, Kosovo will lose 68.8 million euros in June.
According to a table for monitoring the fulfillment of conditions from the Growth Plan, Kosovo has not fulfilled any of the 111 steps foreseen by this plan.
Kosovo was expected to benefit from the Growth Plan by around 880 million euros.
EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos confirmed a few days ago in a debate in the European Parliament's Foreign Policy Committee that she has sent a letter to all six countries in the region, warning them of the need to accelerate reforms in order to benefit from the funds foreseen by the Growth Plan.
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Palokaj: Kosovo should use the funds released by the EU, otherwise it may lose part of them
The European Union has already suspended the Growth Plan fund for Serbia, EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos announced. She accused Serbia of regressing on judicial reforms, France Presse reported on Friday.
Kosovo will hold new parliamentary elections on June 7, after MPs failed to elect a president within the constitutional deadline.
