Post by Fender on Jul 12, 2008 6:44:10 GMT -5
Fate of Kosovo funds unclear
12 July 2008 | 12:55 | Source: Beta
PRIŠTINA -- It won’t be known if the Brussels donations will really be used for Kosovo’s development for another 2 years, writes daily Delo.
Olli Rehn (FoNet, archive)
“Even before a single euro had fallen into the Kosovo kitty, European Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn was endeavoring to banish any doubt that the money raised might not be effectively used,“ writes the Ljubljana daily.
The commissioner guaranteed that every euro would be sent efficiently and purposefully, and that donors would consistently monitor the results.
Rehn said that certain investments, together with those that would be financed by EU funds, would be overseen by the donors themselves, so that the Kosovo authorities would not have to worry about implementation.
Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci made similar guarantees, writes Delo, thus calming donor fears, saying that the funds donated would not end up in the wrong hands, because, as he put it, “the Kosovo authorities will not allow any corruption or organized crime.“
In spite of Rehn and Thaci’s guarantees, the Slovenian daily writes that it will be “another year or two before it is clear whether the money-stuffed envelope, the first since Kosovo’s independence declaration, has enhanced development and social progress in the poorest Balkan region.“
Delo also states that the funds are a test of the abilities of the Kosovo authorities to boost the province’s economic development using the international aid.
The paper adds that Kosovo, if it means to slowly catch up with the other states in the Western Balkans, will have to respond to the strict conditions set by delevopmental organizations like the World Bank and the IMF in exchange for that assistance.
12 July 2008 | 12:55 | Source: Beta
PRIŠTINA -- It won’t be known if the Brussels donations will really be used for Kosovo’s development for another 2 years, writes daily Delo.
Olli Rehn (FoNet, archive)
“Even before a single euro had fallen into the Kosovo kitty, European Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn was endeavoring to banish any doubt that the money raised might not be effectively used,“ writes the Ljubljana daily.
The commissioner guaranteed that every euro would be sent efficiently and purposefully, and that donors would consistently monitor the results.
Rehn said that certain investments, together with those that would be financed by EU funds, would be overseen by the donors themselves, so that the Kosovo authorities would not have to worry about implementation.
Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci made similar guarantees, writes Delo, thus calming donor fears, saying that the funds donated would not end up in the wrong hands, because, as he put it, “the Kosovo authorities will not allow any corruption or organized crime.“
In spite of Rehn and Thaci’s guarantees, the Slovenian daily writes that it will be “another year or two before it is clear whether the money-stuffed envelope, the first since Kosovo’s independence declaration, has enhanced development and social progress in the poorest Balkan region.“
Delo also states that the funds are a test of the abilities of the Kosovo authorities to boost the province’s economic development using the international aid.
The paper adds that Kosovo, if it means to slowly catch up with the other states in the Western Balkans, will have to respond to the strict conditions set by delevopmental organizations like the World Bank and the IMF in exchange for that assistance.