The €75 million is the first tranche of money Kosovo will receive from the EU’s Energy Support Package for the Western Balkans worth EUR 1 billion created by the EU and its Member States to help the region overcome the energy crisis and the major energy prices increase caused by Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked full-scale invasion against Ukraine. 

The entire package will be delivered in two parts, €500 million each, with the first and immediate one focusing on providing direct support to most affected families and businesses and the second one on the clean energy transition of the region and lowering dependence on Russia’s fossil fuels. “Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified full-scale invasion of Ukraine has affected the whole world causing energy and food crises. The effects of those crises are felt the hardest by the more vulnerable economies, and the EU has stepped in, to both support Ukraine fend off the invasion and help its partners cope with the crises,” said Ambassador Szunyog.

The EU remains the biggest provider of financial assistance to Kosovo, with EUR 1.2 billion provided through the Instruments of Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) I and II, from 2007 to 2022. Further financial assistance is now being provided through IPA III. The EU is also Kosovo’s largest trading partner.