Dutch parliament vetoes Albania’s EU candidate status

The Dutch parliament has voted against a government proposal to grant Albania the status of EU candidate, preventing EU leaders from rubberstamping the proposal during a summit in Brussels on 19-20 December, EurActiv reported.

Photo from: ec.europa.eu

The Dutch parliament adopted on December 12 a decision which obliges the government of Prime Minister Mark Rutte to reject the European Commission proposal to give Albania EU candidate status.
The development is likely to inflict a heavy blow to the accession hopes of the Western Balkan nation, which according to the Commission has delivered on EU requirements and so should be granted the status of candidate country.
A spokesperson from the Dutch parliament told EurActiv that Rutte’s liberal VVD party (People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy) had voted against opening the door to Albania, while its coalition partner PvdA (Labour Party), affiliated to the Party of European Socialists, reportedly voted in favour.
Albania has a socialist prime minister, Edi Rama, who took office last September.
EU leaders take decisions on all matters concerning EU enlargement by unanimity. This means that Albania will have lost the chance of becoming a candidate country during the 19-20 December summit, as was expected.
Until recently, the Netherlands has also been an obstacle for Serbia to obtain candidate status.