Brussels, 11/06/2008 (Agence Europe) - An International Donors Conference for Kosovo, in preparation over the last two months, will be held in Brussels, on 11 July. EU member states, international financial institutions and UN agencies have been invited by the European Commission. The aim of the conference is to gather pledges from donors for the socio-economic development of Kosovo, which declared its independence on 19 February. “Kosovo is a profoundly European matter” and “The EU is ready to use all instruments to help Kosovo realise its European perspective,” said Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn in a press release published on Tuesday 10 June. Kosovan authorities have drawn up their own programme for socio-economic development that will address key challenges like investing in the infrastructure to connect Kosovo with the rest of the region, improving the conditions for education of Kosovo's extremely young population (where some schools operate 3 shifts per day), and developing Kosovo's institutions to consolidate democracy and rule of law in a multi-ethnic society, the Commission says. Substantial resources will be made available from the EU budget. (A.B./transl.rt)