Growth Plan/ Kosovo risks losing over 250 million euros

2026-05-21 20:36:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The European Commission has confirmed that it has not yet received from Kosovo the request for the next payment from the Growth Plan funds. The deadline for submitting the request is July 15, while the last day of June represents the final deadline for implementing the reforms foreseen for this period.

While the countries of the Western Balkans region have received payments from the third tranche in a row from the Growth Plan, Kosovo risks losing large parts of the funds dedicated to it from this package, as a result of not fulfilling the steps set out within the specified deadlines.

The European Commission confirmed yesterday that it has approved payments to Albania, North Macedonia and Montenegro for a total of nearly 160 million euros. While Serbia's request for the next payment is being reviewed, Kosovo has not yet submitted a request for payments from this package.

The funds that have already been paid to Kosovo are from pre-financing and the ratification of the agreement on loans and funds between the EU and Kosovo was sufficient for them. Bosnia and Herzegovina remains the only country that has not yet received a single cent from the Growth Plan, because it has not fulfilled the conditions. Albania has already received over 200 million euros in payments from this plan.

According to EU reports, Kosovo risks losing over 90 million euros if it does not report that it has fulfilled the specified steps by the end of June.

We are talking about conditions that Kosovo should have fulfilled last year, but the grace period expires at the end of June this year. Just six months later, another deadline will expire for Kosovo, and the chances that Kosovo will then lose over 160 million euros are high.

If Kosovo does not accelerate the fulfillment of the conditions, it will lose over 250 million euros from the Growth Plan by the end of this year.

If it fulfills the conditions by the end of June, which seems very difficult, if not impossible given the political circumstances in Kosovo and the electoral process, then the deadline for submitting the payment request is July 15.

"The next reporting deadline for Kosovo will be on June 30. The distribution of EU funds is subject to the assessment of the fulfillment of the steps of the Reform Agenda, as well as the fulfillment of specific conditions and general preconditions. After the deadlines for the 13 reform steps expire on June 30 this year, Kosovo risks losing funds if it does not make progress in implementing the Reform Agenda," a European Commission spokesperson said.

The value of the funds for which Kosovo will have to implement the conditions by June 30th amounts to over 90.8 million euros. According to sources from the European Commission, the end of this year is the deadline for 27 other reform steps for payments worth approximately 165.9 million euros. So, if it does not meet the conditions required by the Growth Plan by the end of the year, Kosovo could lose 256.7 million euros.

The loss of a large part of the money, if not all, seems inevitable, since some of the conditions required require the involvement of the Kosovo Parliament in decision-making. It is unlikely that Kosovo will be able to constitute the Assembly before the end of June to meet the required conditions, so those funds can already be considered lost. The European Commission has warned several times since the end of 2024 that internal political problems in the countries of the region could also have consequences for the use of funds from the Growth Plan.

The European Commission has urged Kosovo to accelerate the implementation of the Reform Agenda to avoid losing these funds. Funds from the Growth Plan, if lost, are irrevocable and this applies to every country in the Western Balkans./ Monitor