PRISTINA, May 27/ATA/ The European Union and Kosovo signed the IPA III Financial Partnership Framework Agreement.
In a press release, it is announced that the EU Ambassador to Kosovo Tomas Szunyog handed over today in Pristina to Deputy Prime Minister Besnik Bislimi the IPA III Financial Partnership Framework Agreement approved by the European Commission.
Bislimi signed the Agreement, which, once ratified by the Assembly of Kosovo, will enable Kosovo to receive further technical and financial assistance from the European Union. It covers the annual IPA programs for the period 2021-2027 and will enable the immediate approval of IPA 2021 funds for Kosovo in the amount of 64 million Euros.
“We will use IPA III funding to improve the protection of human rights, gender equality, municipal governance and public safety in Kosovo. Funding will also be directed at capacity building of Kosovo administration to meet EU standards and to respond quickly to urgent economic, health or social needs, to protect the environment in line with EU best practices, to increase the competitiveness of Kosovo’s agri-food sector and help meet the economic criteria for EU membership, “said Szunyog.
Kosovo began to benefit from IPA funding in 2007. Since then, and until the end of 2022, a total of € 1.21 billion has been allocated to Kosovo through IPA I and IPA II.
“Pre-accession funds provide a very important impetus to complement our continued progress in EU-related reforms. IPA III funds will be used to accelerate the EU integration process and internal reforms, as well as to support the necessary investments for the implementation of reforms within the European Reform Agenda, National Development Strategy and sectoral strategies with a focus on youth employment, energy, environment, sustainable and inclusive growth among many other areas “, said Deputy Prime Minister Bislimi.
The EU remains Kosovo’s largest trading partner and largest provider of financial assistance./p.s./
