Kosovo, Montenegro, and the entity of Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina have been left out of the grants approved by the European Union for projects under the Western Balkans Investment Framework.
Serbia, Albania, North Macedonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, specifically the Bosniak-Croat Federation, have benefited from these investments.
The Western Balkans Investment Framework is a joint initiative of the EU, financial institutions, and donors aimed at the socio-economic development and European perspective of Western Balkan countries.
The overall value of the framework is 2.1 billion euros.
Kosovo did not benefit from the European bloc’s grants as the EU imposed punitive measures against Pristina at the end of June due to its failure to meet Brussels’ requirements for normalizing the situation in northern Kosovo. The punitive measures include the suspension of all EU financial programs.
In February of this year, the Government of Kosovo stated that it had also applied for two investment grants and four technical assistance grants under the Investment Framework but did not provide further details.
Kosovo has been benefiting from this mechanism since 2009. Until 2021, this framework has supported 30 projects in Kosovo worth 1.8 billion euros.
The projects include road construction, railway rehabilitation, central heating systems, and improvement of the wastewater system.
For the years 2023-2030, additional projects are planned in Kosovo under this mechanism, such as the Peace Highway Pristina-Niš, the Belgrade-Pristina railway, solar heating for Pristina, and a wastewater treatment plant for Pristina, among others.
- Montenegro with “inappropriate” projects
Montenegro, too, has not received grants from the bloc as the projects presented by Podgorica to the European Commission have been deemed “premature and inappropriate” for funding.
“Montenegro has submitted investment projects in the fields of energy, environment, and transport that have been assessed by the Western Balkans Investment Framework as either premature for financing or unsuitable for financing,” confirmed Ana Pisonero, spokesperson for the European Commission, in a written response to the media.
She added that she hopes Podgorica continues to prepare and mature these investment proposals for their resubmission in the new calls within the Western Balkans Investment Framework.
Pisonero also confirmed that Montenegro benefits from three technical assistance projects worth 3.5 million euros within this investment preparation call for the transport and energy sectors.
On 30 June, the European Commission announced the approval of 14 key investment projects in the fields of transport, energy, environment, human capital, and support for the private sector in the Western Balkans.
- No grants for the Serbian entity
Grants worth 303 million euros have also been approved for infrastructure projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, all grants will be concentrated in the Bosniak-Croat Federation and not in the Republika Srpska entity.
The grants, part of the EU’s 2.1-billion-dollar investment package for the Western Balkans, will support several projects, including the construction of two sections of the pan-European highway linking Budapest to the Croatian port of Ploče.
Other projects in Bosnia that will be supported by these grants involve improving water supply in Sarajevo and rehabilitating a pumping station in a hydroelectric power plant in the south of the country.
The European Union had warned the President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik to stop secessionist rhetoric and movements undermining the state of Bosnia.
The approved funds are over half of the 528 million euros allocated for the region in the form of grants from the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA), along with contributions from block countries and Norway, as well as loans from international financial institutions.
