United States of America have the largest and most expansive program of foreign aid in the world, with an annual budget of up to $ 50 billion.
More than 18 billion of the budget goes for the economic development, often called the humanitarian aid, while $ 8.1 billion goes for the help to strengthen the security.
Kosovo is the largest recipient of US aid in the Balkans. In 2016 this aid amounted to 30 million dollars.
However, judging by the announcements of President of the United States Donald Trump, this aid could be reduced as reported by the newspaper Blic.
Findings of Blic followed only a day after The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) published an article “Trump administration continues with the support of the United States to Kosovo”.
“It is interesting that the Trump administration announced that it will come to the cuts of unnecessary costs in regions that have no particular strategic importance to the United States,” Blic says and adds:
“Bearing in mind that the new US administration, like the previous one, has not shown much interest in the Balkans, this could mean the little money which region receives, would stop arriving from Washington.”
First of all, judging by this, states Blic, Kosovo would be in a problem – which is the biggest recipient of the US aid.
Blic writes that the institutions in Pristina have failed to increase the standard of the population and that only live on foreign aid so the Trump’s reduction in aid would cause a lot of problems in Kosovo.
“Reducing expenses for assistance to the Balkans, created during Barack Obama, clearly shows that the United States in this regard is not very interested for this region. The Trump’s promise about the additional budget cuts could further reduce the amount,” Blic points out.
Blic adds that such actions of the new administration of the President of the United States contribute to the allegations made recently by the German political scientist Zibo Jansen, and that was that Trump slowly gives the Balkans to Vladimir Putin and Russia.
The day before the writing of Blic, the BIRN article “Tramp administration continues the support of the United States to Kosovo”, said that “contrary to the claims of some Serbs” about change of course of the new US administration which would “favour Belgrade”, “reiterates that it will continue to support Kosovo’s independence.”
