Despite the efforts made so far, Kosovo has not yet managed to break out of the vicious circle of stagnation and significant backwardness in the field of research and innovation (R&I) compared to neighbouring countries in the region — let alone to the European Union (EU) member states with which it aspires to integrate.

Even three years after its adoption, the implementation of the National Science Programme (NSP) 2023–2028 has not yet begun, due to the lack of a legal basis — specifically, the new Law on Research and Innovation, which would enable its implementation, has not yet been approved. The extremely low budget allocated to this sector demonstrates that the Government of Kosovo lacks both the vision and the political will to make a decisive shift toward supporting the development of the R&I sector, allowing Kosovo at least to approach the performance of other Western Balkans (WB) in this field. In recent years, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology in Kosovo (MESTI) has allocated between EUR 0.75 million and EUR 1.05 million per year to support R&I. However, even this modest budget has only been partially executed — at around 60 % implementation. Even in the NSP 2023, which is considered ambitious as it multiplies this symbolic budget to reach an annual average of about EUR 14.5 million, the legal requirement of allocating 0.7 % of Kosovo’s national budget for R&I is still not met. The implementation of the NSP remains the main bottleneck and a persistent challenge for all efforts to develop the R&I sector. The limited implementation capacities of MESTI and other institutions responsible for supporting and implementing research and innovation remain a fundamental obstacle preventing the successful execution of national strategies for R&I development. This issue is closely linked to the current MESTI model for financing Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), which has caused universities and other HEIs to focus primarily on teaching, while research has not been treated as a priority. Academic staff are not incentivised to conduct scientific research, as this activity is not remunerated nor included in their contractual workload.

RIINVEST Institute recommends the following:

• The Government of Kosovo should make a serious commitment to drafting and approving the new Law on Scientific Research and Innovation as soon as possible, in order to establish the legal basis necessary to finally begin the implementation of the NSP 2023–2028. Equally important is the prompt adoption of the relevant legal and sub-legal acts (such as administrative instructions, Higher Education Institutions (HEI) statutes, etc.) that will operationalise the law.

Public financing for the R&I sector must be significantly increased for Kosovo to overcome the current stagnation and catch up with other Western Balkans in this field. It is recommended that, within a three-year period, Kosovo reach at least the regional average of 0.5 % of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) allocated from public funds for R&I.
To ensure the effective absorption and utilisation of an increased R&I budget, special attention should be given to strengthening the implementation capacities of MESTI and of the new entities planned under the NSP, which will be responsible for implementing this national programme for the development of the R&I sector (such as the Agency/Fund for Scientific Research and the Innovation Fund)[4].
Reform the current HEIs funding model so that institutions are incentivised to prioritise engagement in R&I activities. Establish internal entities responsible for managing and administering research within academic institutions. The research work of academic staff should be explicitly included in their contracts, reflecting both the scope and the responsibilities of their workload.
Increase financial and institutional support and enhance coordination among all R&I stakeholders to strengthen Kosovo’s participation in the European Commission’s Horizon Europe Programme, as well as in other EU funding mechanisms.
In this context, special attention should be devoted to building the capacities of researchers, particularly through training on project preparation according to EU requirements.
The Kosovo Agency of Statistics and other relevant institutions should take concrete measures to include Kosovo in the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) ranking, ensuring Kosovo’s performance in innovation is systematically monitored and benchmarked.
Establish a coalition of key R&I stakeholders to advocate with the Government of Kosovo for increased funding and complementary policy measures aimed at achieving a substantial transformation in the R&I sector — enabling Kosovo to overcome its current lag and align more closely with other Western Balkans.

The full report is available below

Developments in the RI sector in Kosovo_final Download