Reuters: Kosovo businesses under threat of USAID freeze

Kenan Gashi takes the dolls from stores in Kosovo and throws them into machines donated by the US government that shred and clean the plastic so it can be sold for reuse.

Reuters writes that Gashi's recycling business in Fushë Kosovë was transformed when he received equipment from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) two years ago, prompting him to draw up plans to hire more workers. But Gashi is now worried.

More than a third of the promised $130,000 worth of equipment has yet to arrive.

And now the administration of US President Donald Trump has frozen USAID funding and sought to drastically reduce the aid agency and all US foreign aid under his "America First" agenda.

Last week, in a press release, Trump cited the donation to Kosovo as an example of the type of government spending he wants to cut.

"We are waiting for the other machines to arrive and we have planned to increase the workforce from five to 20, but everything is uncertain right now," Gashi said.

The US has reportedly been one of Kosovo's biggest supporters since the small, landlocked Balkan country became independent.

According to US government figures, the US has provided Kosovo with $1.1 billion in aid since 2001.

The Pristina-based think tank GAP said that USAID was currently managing 17 projects worth more than $156 million, but it is not clear how much of this has actually been disbursed.

Residents in Kosovo say their country needs help from allies like the US.

This is because it has been damaged by ongoing ethnic tensions between the Albanian majority and the Serbian minority in the north.

Reuters even revealed that more than a dozen aid projects worth at least 150 million euros have been canceled by the European Union as a result of the role of Kosovo authorities in that dispute.

“People will not die because of frozen USAID funds,” said Burim Ejupi of the Pristina-based think tank Indep.

"However, every dollar or euro received is important for a country that needs them a lot," Ejupi added.

Otherwise, at risk are funds that were created to strengthen Kosovo's democratic institutions, accelerate the transition from highly polluting coal to renewable energy, and protect marginalized groups.

Those who have received the funds say it is making a difference for them and their community.

Another resident, Qazim Grashtica, 38, sweeps through trash cans every day in Pristina in search of plastic.

USAID provided him with a tractor and a plastic crushing machine.

The assistance has increased his income from five euros a day to 20 euros a day.

"Before the American help, there were times when 10 family members would sleep without dinner. We had nothing to eat," Grashtica said.

"I will tell Trump that you are a good person, you should help people, especially those in Kosovo," he concluded.