Kosovo could miss out on a large portion of the funds foreseen by the European Union if the political deadlock continues and state institutions remain dysfunctional. Under the Growth Plan, the EU has allocated around 170 million euros for Kosovo for the second half of 2026, but accessing these funds is conditional on the implementation of the necessary reforms.
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Over two months after the snap parliamentary elections, Kosovo’s Assembly has still not been constituted. The constitutive session, which began on 6 August, has been postponed twice following a request from Albin Kurti, the leader of the Vetëvendosje Movement, the party that won the elections. Kurti has asked for additional time for consultations with other political entities, aiming to reach a broad agreement that also includes the election of the next president. The lack of consensus precisely on this issue had led Kosovo to snap elections.
The European Commission warns that delays in forming the new institutions after the 7 June elections could directly impact the implementation of reforms and Kosovo’s ability to receive EU funds. European Commission spokesperson Guillaume Mercier reiterates Brussels’ ongoing demand that political actors in Kosovo guarantee institutional stability.
“It is essential that Kosovo’s institutions are constituted without further delay, in accordance with the constitutional framework and established procedures,” Mercier tells Radio Free Europe (RFE).
“Delays in forming institutions risk hampering important reforms and could affect Kosovo’s ability to fully benefit from the opportunities offered by the EU, including the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans,” he adds.
The deadline for implementing 27 reform steps by official Prishtina, worth a total of 165.9 million euros, expires in December this year. Numerous European officials with whom RFE has spoken already mention the possibility of multimillion-euro losses for Kosovo due to the institutional crisis.
“While the European Commission is assessing Kosovo’s reporting on these steps, the political situation in the country has inevitably affected the pace of implementation and has limited progress on a number of key reforms, jeopardising part of the funding under the Reform and Growth Facility,” a European official, speaking on condition of anonymity, tells RFE.
First in drafting the Reform Agenda, last in reporting
In 2024, Kosovo was among the first countries to submit its Reform Agenda, but it presented its report on the level of implementation last. The first request from the Kosovar authorities for the disbursement of funds was submitted on 15 July 2026, shortly before the deadline expired. In this request, they reported on the Reform Agenda steps that had initially been planned to be fulfilled in December 2024, June 2025, December 2025, and June 2026.
“To preserve the available funding, it will be essential to ensure the effective functioning of institutions and the necessary political consensus to maintain a steady focus on implementing the agreed reform agenda,” a European source underlines.
EC spokesperson Mercier assesses that a swift agreement among parties on a unifying candidate for president is particularly important. “Only an efficient inter-party dialogue and a shared sense of purpose will allow Kosovo to pursue common objectives and deliver the reforms its citizens demand,” he tells RFE.
Over the course of 18 months, Kosovo has held three electoral processes: two parliamentary elections and local elections in two rounds. Implementing the reform steps under the EU Growth Plan requires the involvement of both the Government and the Assembly. The Government is responsible for drafting, negotiating, and implementing concrete policy objectives, while the Assembly must approve the corresponding reforms.
December and the risk of permanent loss of funds
The end of 2026 also marks the closure of the tolerance period, known in Brussels as the “grey period,” for the reform steps that the countries of the region, including Kosovo, were initially supposed to have completed in December 2024 and December 2025. The European Commission envisaged this period as additional time after the deadline, during which delays can still be rectified without triggering the consequences of non-compliance with the deadline.
Under this scheme, reform steps that had an initial deadline during 2024 can be completed within an additional 24-month period.
For reforms that were due during 2025, the tolerance period is 12 months. For all reforms planned up to December 2024, and respectively December 2025, the final deadline falls at the end of 2026. After this period, the funds may be permanently lost. If beneficiary countries do not meet the conditions and do not implement the foreseen reforms, the European Commission is entitled to retain the funds earmarked for these steps. These funds may be allocated to other countries that show better results in the reform process.
Kosovo, the biggest beneficiary only in theory
The EU package for the Western Balkans, envisaged for the 2024–2027 period, is worth 6 billion euros and is considered the most ambitious financial package for the region. The Growth Plan funds have been allocated based on population size and Gross Domestic Product. Kosovo has been allocated 882.6 million euros, placing it as the largest beneficiary per capita.
In previous periods, Kosovo had not qualified to receive funds from the Growth Plan because the respective agreements for this European package had not been ratified, also due to political deadlock.
After Kosovo’s Assembly ratified the agreements linked to the Growth Plan in February this year, Kosovo gained the right to benefit from European funds. So far, it has received only 61.8 million euros in pre-financing, or 7 percent of the total allocated amount. For the rest of the funds, Kosovo must demonstrate the implementation of reform steps by submitting a report on the reforms carried out. The European Commission decides twice a year on the disbursement of funds, but only after it has verified that the country has successfully fulfilled the concrete steps and objectives set out in the Reform Agenda./REL
