The Growth Plan Pays Out €750 Million, But the Key to Negotiations — the Constitution — Still Hasn't Turned
Tranches are tied to reforms, not to opening talks. The money is flowing while the political process stays locked.
The EU's Growth Plan for the Western Balkans brings Macedonia a total of €750 million — €215 million in grants and €535 million in favourable loans, with repayment starting in 2034. Part of that money is already flowing to the budget, regardless of the fact that the key political condition for opening negotiating clusters — the constitutional amendment — has still not been met.
The Growth Plan's mechanism is built precisely that way: tranche payments are tied to implementing reforms under the 2024-2027 Reform Agenda, not to the formal opening of accession talks. That means the country can keep receiving financial support even while the political process stays blocked over the dispute with Bulgaria.
European Affairs Minister Orhan Murtezani has previously laid out the figures for the package's breakdown. Von der Leyen, on an earlier visit, announced the arrival of the first tranche, while making clear that opening the first negotiating cluster still awaits the constitutional amendment.
The result is a paradoxical picture: the money is arriving, infrastructure and reform projects are being financed, but the path to membership itself — symbolically the most important step — remains locked behind the same political key that hasn't turned for months.
MKNews Hub · Economy · September 19, 2026