Muhaxhiri: Admitting new EU members without veto rights would change the existing standard

Analyst Artan Muhaxhiri believes that the message from Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama about Albania’s readiness to give up veto rights within the European Union if it is admitted to membership is interesting and that it will have an impact within the EU, but that the only way to speed up the path toward the EU is the fulfillment of all the Union’s criteria and requirements for all member states, and that the same will apply to Albania.

“This is an extreme option and I do not think it will be accepted because it would change the standard. The EU has been working on standards and criteria from A to Z all along. If they change this standard, then it would have to be changed for all other candidate countries as well,” Muhaxhiri tells Kosovo Online.

He notes that Edi Rama is an unusual politician, with a specific style of doing politics.

“He is very creative and always tries to find original ways to approach problems, in this case the issue of European integration. He is doing a good job because Albania is moving very quickly along the path toward the EU. He also has excellent relations with all the main decision-makers in the EU. I think he is in the best position compared to all Balkan states because he works very smartly and does what is asked of him. He is on the right frequencies with the EU,” Muhaxhiri believes.