Selim Ibraimi- Earlier last week, the EU Foreign Affairs Council on Development addressed several points of international aid that are worrying Brussels. One of them was the impact of limited development aid from the US. After January 2025, with the arrival of US President Donald Trump, many USAID programs and other aid were canceled by the US government. Washington stopped sending US dollars to international aid organizations and also withdrew from some of the global organizations in which it had been actively involved for decades. The elimination of USAID, as is known, affected the dynamics of international aid, as this agency managed an amount of over $ 44 billion for 2024 and $ 35 billion for 2025. Since the announcement of the cessation of aid, international discontent has grown significantly. Since 1945, countries had become accustomed to sufficient funds from the US, both in dollars and in other forms.
The cessation of financial, humanitarian, and health aid has been assessed as a catastrophe. To fill this vacuum, there were no other serious actors, with the exception of China and the EU. For our culture and politics, the EU was closer. Last week’s meeting was just a continuation of the confirmation of EU policies not only towards crises, but also of the need that poor countries have for the EU. It must be admitted that the cessation has had an impact on the whole world, including the Balkans. Challenges await us, but European countries such as Germany, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Austria, and others have pledged not to leave this vacuum, despite the american withdrawal.
While Washington continues to remain in crisis, the EU and other geopolitical actors have been activated and will greatly benefit from American containment in the world. In this regard, the EU’s foreign and security policy chief, Kaja Kallas, has emphasized the need to promote democracy. According to diplomat Kallas, the EU cannot fully replace the financial pull of the US, but it can play a leading role in many areas of international aid and development. The EU can fill this vacuum with long-term development assistance to poor and transition countries, including the Balkans. Although the EU member states themselves have limited budgets, the EU now has the opportunity to show itself as an important geopolitical and economic actor like never before. The EU can simply take over the previous role of the US after 1945 by making foreign aid the cornerstone of foreign policy. According to USAFacts, after World War II, the US, with its foreign aid program, reached up to 3.8 trillion dollars, an amount that was in the service of american national and economic security. The EU can follow the same path, being rational, because the EU is not the US, and the national interests of European countries have often harmed the union.
When it comes to international aid and its role in promoting national interests, both economic and security, according to US government records, the Lend-Lease Program (1941–1945) amounted to $50 billion in military and economic aid to the Allies, mainly to Great Britain with $31 billion and the former USSR with $11 billion. According to a CFR report, with the Marshall Plan (1948–1951), the US allocated $12 billion to rebuild Western Europe devastated by the Great Depression. The program called Point Four (1949) initiated by US President Harry Truman, marked the beginning of development aid to the poorest countries in the world.
The 1954 U.S. Census Bureau report shows that from 1945 to 1953, $5.9 billion went to Asian countries, including Japan with $2.44 billion, South Korea with $894 million, and India with $255 million. However, after 1960, american foreign policy took a different direction as the Cold War expanded and was further intensified by the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961. Thus, with the Foreign Assistance Act (1961), the U.S. established USAID. The Alliance for Progress, launched by President John F. Kennedy, aimed to promote economic development and social progress. By the end of the Cold War and beyond, the United States had distributed billions of dollars to Europe, Africa, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East, and other regions.
Although it is not easy to demonstrate power and fill the vacuum left by the US in international aid, the EU has the space and capacity to finance projects and at the same time project power in the world, just as the US once did. This mission requires public support from the citizens of the EU countries themselves. Because if public opinion is not in favor of an international mission, then governments find it difficult to take steps that affect the budgets of the states. In the US, the opinions of American citizens have changed over the years. The perception of american citizens regarding military, economic, and humanitarian involvement in the world has changed. During this year, public support in the US for international aid has fallen. It is no longer the old US. Although economic aid stabilizes crises, american citizens and the US government itself have changed their approach. They have focused on domestic crises and much less on external crises.
The US withdrawal from international development after eight decades significantly changed the picture of foreign aid for the Balkans as well. The Balkan countries have been part of american benefits since 1950. Aid has increased after 1991 with the collapse of the Yugoslav federation and until today. When it comes to budget cuts, not all American programs have been suspended; some continue, but most are being reviewed in Washington. After the american withdrawal, as we said above, the EU has been committed to continuing development and assistance for the Balkans. According to a US government report, from 2020 to 2024, the US invested $1.7 billion in the Balkans. The financial amount is higher if we count the amounts since 1991 for the countries of the region, and especially the former republics that emerged after the collapse of the Yugoslav federation.
However, the EU is the largest provider of aid to the Balkans, with over €3.3 billion. Currently, the €6 billion Balkan Growth Plan (2024–2027), with €2 billion in grants and €4 billion in loans, represents a large financial sum that the countries of the region should use. From the Growth Plan, Serbia receives €1.6 billion, Albania €922 million, Kosovo €883 million, North Macedonia €750 million, and Montenegro €384 million.
According to the EU, the funds are linked to economic and anti-corruption reforms. As additional support, the EU has allocated 1.2 billion euros for infrastructure and 1 billion euros for energy support to enhance regional stability.
As the EU aims to fill the vacuum left by the US withdrawal, Russia and China will try to exploit the weaknesses of transatlantic differences and those of countries in the region. The US still has time to review its foreign aid and programs, addressing abuses while reactivating programs that promote US interests more responsibly. Recently, officials in Brussels have emphasized that the EU will make greater financial and strategic commitments to replace the lack of US aid.
The EU’s 6 billion euro Growth Plan can be seen as timely aid that should not be interrupted for the Balkans. In concrete terms, European aid comes at the right time. It should be seized by the Balkan states, because the opportunity will not come again. Until the US settles its scores, the Balkans and the EU will have to cooperate much more closely and address the demands and challenges of the present and the future. If they do not do this, the crises will be permanent, and certainly development aid will be called into question.
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