The European Commission has confirmed that all measures against Kosovo could be lifted within a few weeks, once internal procedures in Brussels structures are completed.
The Director of the Enlargement Directorate, Jan Koopman, has announced that, together with the part of the measures that have already been lifted, over 400 million euros will be released for Kosovo.
Currently, according to him, work is being done in the programming and contracting phase.
"Between programming and contracting, we would, effectively, in the coming weeks have lifted all financial measures. That is more or less what our President has said and what we are planning to do now, as well as what we are actually doing in practice," said Jan Koopman.
The Director of the Directorate for Enlargement spoke at the European Parliament's Foreign Policy Committee regarding the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans.
Kosovo's situation in the context of the Growth Plan, according to him, is relatively simple. The financial means will be released once the relevant agreements are ratified – a process that has so far been impossible due to the lack of functional institutions.
"Now this is something that we hope will be completed soon. After the elections in December, we expect the rapid formation of the government. Then, the authorities can finalize this documentation, which is essential for protecting the EU budget and the interests of European taxpayers. After that, we will be able to move quickly, hopefully to pick up the pace," Koopman added.
He also confirmed that the Kosovo authorities have been working intensively on these reforms; many of them have been prepared and can be implemented quickly. Consequently, according to him, catching up with other countries in the region is possible, but only after the necessary ratification in the Parliament./RTK
