The failure to constitute Kosovo’s institutions is seriously endangering the economic development of municipalities and risking the loss of tens of millions of euros in international funding.
This was warned in an interview with Ekonomia Online by the Executive Director of the Association of Kosovo Municipalities (AKM), Sazan Ibrahimi.
He stated that the failure to constitute the Assembly and the Government of Kosovo has direct consequences for municipalities, both financially and legislatively.
“The non-functionality of central institutions will have a direct impact on municipalities.
Firstly, on the financial side considering that the EU has allocated several hundred million euros for the Growth Plan if Kosovo does not constitute its Parliament, these financial resources may not be received.
The absolute majority of those funds are designated for Kosovo’s municipalities, with investments planned in local infrastructure, digitalization, capacity building, and more. This directly affects municipalities.”
Ibrahimi added that the planned investments in local infrastructure, digitalization, and capacity building are now in question, while the absence of functioning institutions is also blocking the approval of key laws crucial for municipal operations.
In this situation, three municipalities—Pristina, Gjilan, and Zubin Potok—have not managed to approve their budgets on time. As a result of the unconstituted Assembly, they are now forced to operate under the previous year’s budget and cannot implement new projects.
“The failure to constitute the Parliament and the Government will also result in the inability to amend several important laws for municipalities, such as the Draft Law on Local Government Finances, the Draft Law on Public Procurement, and the Draft Law on Spatial Planning. All of these directly affect the economic development of municipalities.
The Parliament’s non-functionality also poses a problem for the three municipalities—Pristina, Gjilan, and Zubin Potok—that did not approve their budgets on time. This year, as a result, they cannot implement new projects and must rely on the previous year’s budget.
It’s important to note that this is also an election year at the local level, and municipalities are eagerly awaiting the constitution of central institutions so that normalcy in public affairs can resume.”
Ibrahimi also warned of an immediate risk of losing €15 million in funding for Kosovo’s municipalities from the European Commission under the IPA III call “EU for Good Governance,” due to what he called the negligence of the Ministry of Local Government Administration (MLGA).
“One of the issues raised by the Association of Kosovo Municipalities, through its member municipalities, is the potential loss of EU funding—up to €15 million—due to the negligence of the MLGA, which has not taken into account some recommendations from meetings with the European Commission regarding the performance scheme.
These €15 million are intended for Kosovo municipalities, not the MLGA. Therefore, we demand that the central level, particularly the MLGA, be more transparent with municipalities in designing projects that benefit them.
In this case, the MLGA failed to meet EU requirements during meetings with the European Commission, putting these funds at risk. The potential loss of these millions—along with funding from the Swiss Development Agency, Swedish SIDA, and the Norwegian Embassy—would have a direct impact on economic development and on improving the lives of citizens.”
