Stojkovski: The process of abolishing the veto in the EU is possible, but would be long and complicated

Andreja Stojkovski, Executive Director of the Prespa Institute in North Macedonia, assessed that there is a possibility that EU member states could be deprived of their right of veto in the future, but that this is a layered, complicated, and lengthy process. He added that this is currently the position of one political group, which will not decide on the matter on its own.

Commenting on the statement by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban that the European People’s Party has adopted a strategy aimed at stripping EU member states of their veto rights, Stojkovski believes this is very possible.

“Considering global relations, it is probably possible, very possible. And how quickly will it happen? Probably not very quickly, because the procedures are such,” Stojkovski told Kosovo Online.

He points out that this is the position of the European People’s Party, which has the largest parliamentary group in the European Parliament and whose member parties have the largest share in the governments of EU member states, but that it is not the only political group that will decide on the matter.

“Procedures do not always end in national parliaments. So this is probably a political position that should later be discussed with other European political parties in order to find some kind of common position,” Stojkovski said.

He adds that he understands the position of the Hungarian prime minister.

“Orban’s position, on the other hand, I understand. First, his political party comes from another political group in the European Parliament, slightly to the right of the European People’s Party. And he treats this as an endangerment of sovereignty that could be an obstacle to the development of the integration process and the strengthening of the Union, while fully benefiting from membership, primarily financial resources,” Stojkovski said.

The next EU enlargement is expected by 2030, and Stojkovski notes that the process of adopting the European People’s Party’s strategy would last longer than that.

“At this moment, the projection of the EU and the Commission is that the first next enlargement could happen in 2028 or 2030. That is too soon for the entire procedure to be completed. And this is the position of one group. There will be opportunities for agreements and negotiations. This needs to be incorporated into the founding treaties. There is a possibility in the accession treaties, for example, of Montenegro and Albania to incorporate these elements, because accession treaties modify the founding treaties and such a modification could be made,” the Kosovo Online interlocutor assessed.

However, he believes that not all member states would agree to this, and that the laws of some of them require a referendum before the ratification of any agreements.

According to him, abolishing the veto could be beneficial for Western Balkan countries, but nothing will be achieved in such a short timeframe.

“I think the member states will not agree. With such an approach, they would want a reform of the founding treaties, which would require at least one intergovernmental conference. Even if the negotiation period were short, it would be followed by a ratification process, which includes not only ratification in European institutions but also at the national level. Ratification at the national level in at least two member states is complicated. In France and the Netherlands, a national referendum would be required, which could be a serious problem. So the process could not be completed in less than at least three years, and perhaps even longer. This could be good for the Western Balkans, but under conditions where we want accelerated integration and earlier accession to membership, that is too long a period for us,” Stojkovski explained.

According to him, North Macedonia would not benefit from this, as it has not yet begun the process of opening clusters.

“It cannot have any positive effect on Macedonia, except negative, because it has not yet started the real negotiation process, opening clusters and chapters and negotiating and closing them. Therefore, there is no way to change anything in the adopted negotiation framework, which is an important moment for Macedonia. I do not think they will do it. On the other hand, there could be countless other obstacles in the processes that await us. If we prevent all possible processes of Balkanization of European policies, then we could expect that once we start negotiations by chapters and clusters, the process could move somewhat faster,” Stojkovski concluded.