Von der Leyen: Western Balkan Growth Fund Payments to Start Before Year Is Out

BETAPHOTO/Katarina Sremcevic

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said on Oct. 14 that Western Balkan states should receive the first payments out of the Growth Plan by the end of the year.

Speaking at a conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz after the Berlin Process Summit, Von der Leyen said that five out of the six reform agendas would be adopted in the course of the week, so that paying out the six billion euros from the Growth Plan could begin before the year was out.

The EU approves reform agendas so states in the region can gain access to funds from the Growth Plan. Bosnia and Herzegovina has not received approval as it did not submit a complete reform agenda to Brussels.

Von der Leyen stressed that the Growth Plan was a bridge between the Shared Regional Market and the Single EU Market, that it was a merit-based process and that countries that wanted to see progress had to work with others.

Chancellor Scholz said another ten years must not be allowed to pass before states in the region become a part of the EU, adding that the Oct. 14 meeting, characterized by the principles of solidarity, equality and cooperation, had seen significant strides.

At the opening of the summit, Scholz said that a new pace was needed in the process of normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina, and that, while the future of both sides was in the EU, only the full implementation of all agreements and deals reached could get them there.

Scholz went on to say that this was why he wanted to tell "our friends in Belgrade and Pristina" not to allow the past to hinder progress on the path toward a future of peace and prosperity.