Kosovo nets more than 1 billion euros at donors' conference

15/07/2008

International donors pledged 1.2 billion euros for Kosovo on Friday. Funds will go towards social and economic development, and to paying down the newly independent country's debt.

By Blerta Foniqi-Kabashi for Southeast European Times in Kosovo -- 15/07/08

Most of the money will support social and economic development. [AFP]

The international community pledged 1.2 billion euros for Kosovo at the donors' conference Friday (July 11th) in Brussels. The funds will, over the next three years, help build Kosovo, the newest nation to emerge from the breakup of Yugoslavia.

Most of the money committed on Friday will underwrite social and economic development, such as the building of roads and schools. About 100m euros will service Kosovo's debt.

Nearly 40 countries sent representatives to the conference, which the European Commission organised and Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci attended. The World Bank was among the international institutions present.

Thaci told the conference that the event represented the beginning of a new phase of development and that authorities in Pristina will co-operate with international donors when it comes to spending the money.

"We are well aware of our responsibilities," Thaci said. "We will never disappoint you."

The European Commission emerged as the biggest single donor, making a 500m-euro pledge, followed by the United States with 256m euros.

"The donors' conference to support Kosovo was a very important event," US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Rosemary DiCarlo said.

The European Commission and other donors have shown a readiness to support Kosovo's economic and democratic development, DiCarlo said, but the donors had expectations for Pristina to meet.

"We are very happy because ... most European states have decided to support Kosovo in the future. We consider this to have absolutely essential significance for the region's stability," DiCarlo said.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn, who also attended the conference, said Kosovo is "essentially a European issue" and that by promising half a billion euros, "the EU has clearly demonstrated this."

"This is not just diplomatic vocabulary; this is the most concrete, the most palpable proof of our dedication to Kosovo and the stability and progress of the entire Western Balkans," Rehn said.

Virtually all of the 20 EU countries that have already recognised Kosovo as an independent state pledged funds. But the amounts committed by the EU's heavyweights ranged from 100m euros from Germany to the 2m euros pledged by the current EU presidency holder, France.

Non-EU countries Norway, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia and Turkey also contributed sizeable amounts.