Brussels hosts donors' conference for Kosovo

11/07/2008

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- The EU on Friday (July 11th) during an international donors' conference in Brussels pledged 500m euros to help rebuild Kosovo and ensure its stability. EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said the conference is key to Kosovo's economic development and for that of the whole region. There will be strict conditions on management of donors' money, a significant test of Kosovo's authorities, he said. Kosovo hopes donors will provide a total of 1.5 billion euros.

Ahead of the conference, Kosovo authorities applied for membership Thursday in the IMF and the World Bank.

In other news Thursday, Kosovo Foreign Minister Skender Hyseni and his Belgian counterpart, Karel De Gucht, signed the first interstate agreement on assistance to Kosovo's institutions. The accord envisions aid to the Kosovo Property Agency, an arms control project and the Ombudsman. (BBC, Koha Ditore, Lajm, Reuters, Zeri - 11/07/08; Kohavision, RTK - 10/07/08)