Orav: Kosovo and Serbia will benefit from the first payment within the Growth Plan
Interviews
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1 months ago
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Kosovo and Serbia will benefit from the first payment within the European Union Growth Plan after they have made a statement regarding the normalization process, says the EU ambassador in Kosovo, Aivo Orav.
Orav, in an interview for KosovaPress, emphasizes that the disbursement of the first million euros will be made at the end of this year, but underlines that before each future payment, an assessment will be made for the implementation of agreements resulting from the dialogue process between Kosovo and Serbia.
"No, at the moment this first payment can be divided because both Kosovo and Serbia have made a statement regarding the normalization process between the two countries. But then, I want to say that yes, before each payment, an assessment will be made as to whether we as the European Union can now pay this money, and this is related to the normalization process", emphasizes Orav.
According to him, the Growth Plan for the six countries of the Western Balkans is an innovative project of the European Union.
He emphasizes that Kosovo will benefit a lot and it is a good opportunity to push forward the reforms on the path of integration towards the EU.
"This Growth Plan is a very new and very innovative tool of the European Union to cooperate with the countries of the Western Balkans. So there's a lot of money in this project, and there's a lot of opportunity to push those countries to make the reforms that are needed for those countries, but also those that are needed to get closer to the European Union. And Kosovo, as I mentioned before, has approved the reform agenda, which has been done very well. And now we very much hope that the necessary agreements will be ratified in the parliament because then the way opens for Kosovo to receive this money, and the first transfer is already pending, so it can be paid by the end of the year, it is 60 million euros, but all together, this money for Kosovo is almost 900 million euros", emphasizes Orav.
Speaking about the European Union's punitive measures against Kosovo, he said that he does not know when they will be removed, as there is still no consensus among the 27 member countries for such a thing.
He asks the Government of Kosovo to work with the EU member states and convince them that now is the right moment to remove the measures.
"My short answer is I don't know. But for those measures the High Representative, Josep Borrell this summer made a report and his recommendation was to remove the measures. But it is not only for the high representative, in the European Union we are working in the consensus stages, we have 27 member states and so far we have not found this consensus, so we must continue to work towards this consensus and then we must to work closely with the government of Kosovo here, because the government of Kosovo must convince all member states that, yes, now is the right time to remove those measures", he declares.
According to him, the situation in the north is still unstable and fragile.
“The situation [in the north] is still quite unstable and fragile. We are following closely everything that is happening in the North, in our EU office and our EULEX office as well, reporting back to Brussels and our capitals, and communicating closely on a daily basis with officials from to the government. So again, I want to say, I really hope that we will be much more positive for the north next year in the report of the country", adds Orav.
On the other hand, Orav considers it necessary to coordinate the government with allies regarding the opening of the Ibri Bridge.
"I don't want to say that this bridge is a problem for the European Union. But, yes, this bridge is something that all those who are interested in developments in Kosovo are talking about this bridge. And now, we very much hope that if the opening of the bridge will take place, then it will be done in a very close cooperation with the European Union, with the international community, and I am glad that we have those commitments from the government", declares Orav.
Regarding Kosovo's application for obtaining the status of a candidate country for membership in the EU, Orav says that until now there is no consensus among the EU member states for giving the green light to Kosovo.
"The European Commission is ready to press the button to start preparing the questionnaire for Kosovo's membership application immediately after all member states have given the task to do it. And for this we need 27 member states that say yes, we should start doing it, but so far we don't have this consensus", he concludes./E.Zeqiri
