Kosovo

The European Commission is organizing a donors conference in Brussels on July 11 to gather funds to help Kosovo on its way to statehood, a spokeswoman confirmed Tuesday. Preparations for the conference have been going on for several months. It will take place some five months after Kosovo declared independence from Serbia. The EU’s executive arm has already earmarked EUR 395.1 million (USD 614 million) for Kosovo for 2007-2011, and could allocate a further EUR 200 million for ?specific socio-economic needs? linked to its new status. (AFP)