In the session of the Kosovo Assembly to approve the budget for 2026, opposing positions were faced between the ruling and opposition parties. Meanwhile, the GAP Institute has analyzed the allocation of capital investments, highlighting obvious inequalities in the distribution of funds between municipalities and the political parties that lead them.
In the Assembly session for the approval of the 2026 budget, representatives of parliamentary groups expressed different positions on the document approved by the Government.
Arbërie Nagavci, head of the Vetëvendosje Movement Parliamentary Group, said that given the emergency situation and the fact that this is the largest budget Kosovo has ever had, the Vetëvendosje Movement gives full support to the budget.
"Given the emergency we are in and the need for all institutions to function regularly, and adding the fact that this is the largest budget Kosovo has ever had, we give full support to this budget."
For his part, Bedri Hamza, on behalf of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, stated that the country needs a budget, but criticized the urgency for its approval.
"I understand the importance of the country having a budget. However, I don't understand why this is such a big urgency. I don't want to believe that this is related to the election of the president. First, we should prevent MPs from expressing criticism of this important document, and second, the country needs institutions."
Lumir Abdixhiku, leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo, demanded that the budget reflect the changes in the government structure and the commitments of the prime minister's address.
"The budget should reflect the structure of the ministries, not be divided only by the Ministry of Finance but by the Assembly. It should also reflect the exposition that Kurti presented on the day of the formation of the government and ensure legality and constitutionality."
Meanwhile, Besnik Tahiri, head of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo Parliamentary Group, criticized the fact that the budget does not reflect government promises and the approved project is the same as that of October 31, 2025.
"The essence is that this budget was approved on October 31, 2025 and in the capital projects tables it is the same. This is a provisional budget, which will be subject to review in a few months, and does not reflect the government's promises."
Prime Minister Albin Kurti, in his speech at the Assembly session for the review in principle of the budget for 2026, while justifying the fact that they have brought to the Assembly the old draft budget that was approved in October last year, said that they will bring the budget for review after they have processed the new Government's program.
According to him, the Government's program will include the promises he made in his re-election speech.
"The commitments we made in the last campaign are, of course, summarized in the statement I made on February 11, when I was re-elected prime minister. But, before that statement is transformed into a new budget, the government program must come to you. So, it would be abnormal to bring a budget in accordance with the statement without first bringing the government program. The logical order of things, from the chronology, is this: campaign commitments, the statement of the candidate for prime minister, the new government program and then the budget review."
After his speech, Kurti left the Parliament, saying that there is an organization of the Central Bank of Kosovo with that of Albania.
Salaries and allowances: 980 million euros, goods and services: 545 million euros
Minister of Finance, Hekuran Murati, presented the draft law on budget allocation for 2026 to MPs, highlighting procedural delays, budget extension limitations, and the overall structure of expenditures and revenues.
The Minister underlined that the draft law was submitted within the legal deadline, but had not entered into force due to institutional circumstances.
"We all know that this draft law, according to the law, was expected to be approved and submitted to the Assembly on October 31 of last year, which the government in office at the time had done. However, in the absence of a functional Assembly, but also in the absence of consensus after the constitution of the Assembly, this draft law was not processed and was not approved in order to be in force before January 1, when the use of this budget begins.
As a result of this, we have had automatic budget extensions, as foreseen by the LPFMP (Law on Public Financial Management and Accountability), which is for the first two months and then, as you know, an extension for the month of March was also approved. In any case, these extensions are only enough for current expenses. As for new procurements, new projects, it is impossible to initiate procedures without having the commitment of funds. And if the allocation is made only for 3 of the 12ths of the year, so the entire year cannot be committed, let's take it for a capital project or for any other procurement regarding goods and services, for essential services in case of need.
He added that the new government has decided to proceed with the draft law in its existing form to unblock budget functioning, while amendments will be addressed at a later stage.
"Therefore, seeing this situation, being aware of the emergency situation that awaits us in terms of moving forward and unblocking the budget, whether at the central level or for the municipal ones, we have proposed as the Minister of Finance to the government in the first meeting, that is, as a new government, to proceed with the draft law as it was. So, not necessarily reflecting for now the necessary changes for all priorities, but also for the structure of the government, but to do this in a later review. Meanwhile, this draft law is the draft law that was approved on October 31 of last year as foreseen by the law.
The tables are similar. The only thing that changes has to do with the 13th salary, which is foreseen not at the end of the year but to be done at the beginning of the year. Meanwhile, the other issue that is foreseen also has to do with the change or possibility of changing the tables in the law regarding the departments at the moment when the government approves the government regulation and the definition or determination of the division of duties and scope of action of each of the departments or ministries is made. And this work is left to be done later through Article 11, paragraph 5 specifically.
Regarding the content of the budget for 2026, the minister presented the full expenditure structure and funding sources.
"Regarding the budget in question, it is a budget where the spending limit is approximately 4 billion euros (or 3 billion and 967 million euros). These expenditures are divided into the following categories:
The remainder of the deficit is expected to be financed through borrowing or grants from donors.
In addition to these, it is foreseen that: The 13th salary will be added here, Work experience, which with the salary law for the first 15 years was 0.25% per year, will return to 0.5% per year for all years. Postponement of the entry into force of the progressive rate for property tax, so that this year we have a new law in consultation with the municipalities, since these revenues go to them.
GAP Analysis: Government allocates most investment budget to municipalities in VV, few and small capital projects
The distribution of investments from the central level to municipalities is not fully proportional to population and area, highlighting inequalities in the allocation of investments.
The Vetëvendosje Movement benefits from the largest share of investments, with 40.3% of total investments and 34% of new investments, although it represents 23.8% of the population and 18.3% of the area.
A similar situation, especially in terms of new investments, is also observed in the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), which with 14.0% of the population and 16.8% of the area benefits from 29.5% of new investments. On the other hand, the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), although it has the highest percentage of population (30.5%) and a significant part of the area (25.6%), receives 17.3% of total investments and 10.6% of new investments. The Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) presents a more balanced distribution, where the percentages of investments are closer to the percentages of population and the area it covers. The Serbian List, representing 6.7% of the population and 6.2% of the area, benefits from around 2% of investments. Meanwhile, smaller entities such as KDTP, NISMA and Citizens' Initiative have a limited impact on both population and area, as well as investments.
The GAP Institute has published an analysis of the municipal draft budget for 2026, which foresees an increase in spending in all main categories compared to 2025. However, the report highlights that the distribution of investments from the central level continues to be accompanied by significant differences between municipalities.
According to the data, the wage fund in municipalities is expected to increase by 48.8 million euros or 13 percent. Expenditures on goods and services will increase by 6.78 million euros (5%), while municipal expenditures by 1.6 million euros (10%). An increase of 6.02 million euros or 17 percent is also foreseen in the category of subsidies and transfers. Capital investments, meanwhile, are expected to be 16.6 million euros higher, which represents an increase of 7 percent.
11 municipalities at risk of budget stagnation
GAP estimates that the budgets of 11 municipalities should be reviewed between two readings in the Assembly, as they had not approved the budget by September 30, 2025, due to local elections and lack of information for assembly members.
If no amendments are made, the municipalities of Vushtrri, Suhareka, Viti, Lipjan, Malisheva, Shtime, Junik, Zubin Potok, Gjilan, Prizren and Prishtina could face the same budget in 2026 as in the previous year. The institute suggests that MPs make corrections in accordance with the budget calculation methodology, so that these municipalities are not left out of the overall budget increase.
The report considers positive the fact that the Ministry of Finance has not reduced the budget of municipalities that have experienced a decline in population, not penalizing them despite their investment needs.
However, GAP emphasizes that the Fourth Grant for municipalities has not yet been operationalized, which, according to them, is creating inequalities in the benefit of funds from the central level.
For 2026, ministries plan to invest around 216.6 million euros in municipal projects, which accounts for 29 percent of their total capital investments. Of this amount, only 15 million euros are dedicated to new projects – 32 percent less than in 2025 – and only 23 municipalities will benefit from them.
Large municipalities such as Pristina, Ferizaj and Fushë Kosova do not appear at all on the list of new capital investments for next year.
Inequality in division by political affiliation
The GAP analysis shows that the allocation of investments is not fully proportional to the population size or territorial area of municipalities.
Municipalities led by the Vetëvendosje Movement benefit from 40.3 percent of total investments and 34 percent of new projects, even though they constitute 23.8 percent of the population and 18.3 percent of the country's surface area.
The Alliance for the Future of Kosovo benefits from 29.5 percent of new investments, with 14 percent of the population and 16.8 percent of the territory. The Democratic League of Kosovo, which represents 30.5 percent of the population and 25.6 percent of the area, receives 17.3 percent of total investments and 10.6 percent of new investments.
According to the report, the Democratic Party of Kosovo has a more balanced distribution of funds, while the Serbian List benefits from around 2 percent of investments.
Municipalities with the largest and smallest benefits
Among the municipalities with the highest allocations from the central level are Gjilan with 30.7 million euros, Ferizaj with 21.4 million euros and Mitrovica with 19 million euros.
On the other hand, the lowest investments were recorded in Gracanica, Obiliq and Zvecan.
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