The European Commission on Wednesday disbursed €65.7 million to Macedonia, €49 million to Albania and €44.2 million to Montenegro under the Reform and Growth Instrument, better known as the Western Balkans Growth Plan.
The Commission disbursed the funds after assessing that Macedonia had implemented reforms in education and digitalization, and that Albania and Montenegro had implemented reforms in the areas of business competitiveness and innovation.
The European Union adopted the Western Balkans Growth Plan in 2023. It aims to integrate the EU candidate countries into the 27-nation bloc’s single market.
It has made €6 billion available in total, with the countries to withdraw the funds after implementing certain reforms.
The European Commission has so far released €212.8 million to Albania, €142.1 million to Macedonia and €89.3 million to Montenegro. Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo are also included in the Western Balkans Growth Plan.
The European Commission has disbursed the latest tranche to Macedonia as it has improved funding for primary and secondary education and measures to expand access to digital infrastructure and IT equipment in schools. Of the allocated €65.7 million, €30.6 million will be transferred to the state budget, while the remaining money is available for investment projects through the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF).
