The spokesman of the Greek government, Pavlos Marinakis, reacted to the statements of the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, that Albania should join the EU, even bypassing the Greek veto.

The Greek media write that Marinakis responded to Scholz’s statements by saying: “I think that respect for the rules of the rule of law is not overlooked. The Fredi Beleri issue is not a bipartisan issue. It is a matter of the rule of law. This is how we treat it and this is how we will continue to treat it”.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis also stated the same at Wednesday’s EU-Western Balkans Summit in Brussels, as according to him respect for the rule of law is the crowning glory of the membership process.

Greek media write that Greece’s stance is “putting the brakes” on Albania’s EU membership negotiations.

However, German Chancellor Olaf Solz stated on Wednesday, among other things, that Albania’s EU membership will be a reward for the country’s reform efforts of recent years.

“When a country has gone through extensive reforms, as in the case of Albania, this must be recognized, otherwise there is a risk of extensive consequences in the overall enlargement process, which we cannot allow,” said Olaf Scholz.

According to the German chancellor, this general panorama is “the historic chance to finally connect the region with Europe and leave the problems of the past in the past”.

This call was addressed to the candidate countries, but rather to the EU member countries, which according to Scholz should enable the internal reformation of the union. Specifically, the German chancellor requested that the veto rule be removed for many steps within the enlargement process.

“There is no need for every decision, such as the opening or closing of negotiation chapters, to depend on each member country. If countries, such as Albania, have made important reforms, this should be appreciated. Otherwise, there is a risk of damaging the entire membership process and we should not allow this”, said the chancellor amidst the applause of many MPs in the hall.

The social democratic chancellor’s calls were addressed to Greece, which has threatened that it will not allow the opening of the first chapter of negotiations with Albania, without the Beleri issue being resolved.