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Veto right, Kos: Nothing has been decided yet. Rama: We have no plan B except the EU
2026-05-26 23:28:12 / POLITIKË
Following the conclusion of the 8th Albania-EU Intergovernmental Conference today, Prime Minister Edi Rama, the Deputy Minister for European Affairs of Cyprus, Marilena Raouna, and EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos, held a press conference.
During the conference, one of the questions was related to the possibility that candidate countries such as Montenegro and Albania, in the future accession process, would not have the right to veto in the decision-making of the European Council.
In her response, Marta Kos emphasized that the membership process remains based on meeting EU conditions and standards and that this has not changed.
Kos added that "guarantees" are being discussed within European institutions, while adding that the discussions are still open and no final decision has been made.
"All our candidate countries have the opportunity to join the EU when they meet all the conditions, this is the basis, this has not changed at all. But you have heard me talk many times about guarantees, because we need to make sure that when we take in new member states we need to be stronger, not only at the beginning, but also for the next 5-10-15 years. What these guarantees will be is still part of the internal discussion of the Commission, between the member states and between the Commission and the member states, and a wide range of possibilities has been taken into consideration. The candidate countries may know something from these discussions, but nothing has been decided. I want to say that these guarantees will be invisible to the new member states when they join if they follow the rules, but if they do not follow the rules they will feel these guarantees strongly", said Kos.
On the other hand, Prime Minister Edi Rama underlined that Albania is not seeking membership without full rights. He described the process as a need for a “new dynamic” in the European Union, imposed by geopolitical developments and the need to strengthen the Union. Rama added that such an approach does not imply the creation of a “two-class” Europe, but a new way of integration that can help both the EU and the candidate countries.
"I have the impression that we are talking about either this or that. We are not giving up on full membership. This is about building a new dynamic, which has been imposed on Europe by external factors. A dynamic that has been imposed on us all by the need to fight what could be the decline of Europe and which is also a dynamic that we need to embrace for a united Europe. It does not mean creating a Europe with two classes or categories, it is about doing in a different way what Helmut Kohl did from the first day when he declared against all predictions and all kinds of provisions the unification of Germany. He did not ask how prepared East Germany was for it. Along the way things changed and the unification became not only political but in every way a reality. A political step towards the countries that are negotiating to bring them in, without waiting for all these countries to agree, that these countries should have all the rights is an idea to be explored, while also giving the European Union time to "to be reformed as has been said many times," said Rama.
Rama added that "the time has come to play our game differently and when it comes to Albania we are very clear. We have no plan B, we have no alternative and we do not want to have any because any alternative to the European Union is an alternative to individual freedom and equality before the law. We want to be part of this whatever it takes, whatever status, whatever thing, the closer the better."
Prime Minister Rama stated that the European Union has made an effort to overcome the “all or nothing” approach through the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans. According to Rama, the difference between the funds received by EU member states and those received by candidate countries has been very large.
"There was an attempt with the Growth Plan to combat this 'all or nothing' approach because until you go and sit at the table you have nothing. Just imagine, an EU member state in the region receives an average of 4 thousand and a few hundred euros per capita, while we received from the EU, 132 euros per capita, an extraordinary gap. The new Growth Plan addressed this with a mechanism that showed that it was useful, but no longer sufficient. The idea is not to create a Europe with two levels of citizenship, but it is about a fully integrated Europe with several stages and creative movements while fully respecting the methodology in force. We must do the process based on merit, because it is good for us, not because they ask us to, but because it helps the country become a functional democracy," said Rama.
Meanwhile, Marilena Raouna stated that discussions on new integration models will be reviewed by the competent bodies of the Council of the European Union. She emphasized that the EU also awaits the results of the pre-accession reviews by the European Commission to assess the Union's readiness for future enlargement.
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