BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) – Kosovo received a total of ¤1.2 billion (US$1.9 billion) in pledges from international donors, including the United States and the European Union, on Friday to help build much needed infrastructure and democratic institutions and to foster economic growth.
*Â Bosnian Serbs remember relatives killed in civil war
Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said his country «scored an extraordinary success» at the conference of 37 countries and 16 international organizations, including the United Nations and the World Bank.
The conference was the first time international donors had the opportunity to back their recognition of Kosovo’s independence from Serbia with financial aid, after it declared itself sovereign in February.
Thaci told donors after their day-long pledging meeting that their aid would «open the chapter of economic development of Kosovo.
He assured donors that their money would be used wisely, based on an internationally backed reform plan, which aims to build much needed roads, schools, electricity plants and to train police and judges _ all aimed at making Kosovo a stand-alone country. A large chunk of the aid also will help to reduced Kosovo’s shared debt inherited by states that once made up Yugoslavia and Serbia.
* You can have any religion as long as its Islam:
«Your investment in Kosovo is an investment to build a modern country and a multi-ethnic society,» Thaci said.
* Yep. “You pay, we play…”
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