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Votes "in exchange" for a European passport/ Rama's main campaign promise, how feasible is it?

2025-05-02 08:40:00, Politikë CNA

Votes "in exchange" for a European passport/ Rama's main campaign

Prime Minister Edi Rama has included the issue of the European passport in his campaign for the May 11 elections, using it as a tool to seek a fourth term in office. He says this mandate is necessary to finalize Albania's integration process into the European Union.

Rama has stated that Albania could close negotiations with the EU by 2027 and become a full member by 2030.

If Albania becomes a member of the EU, every Albanian citizen will be provided with a passport that will contain security elements of European Union standards. Rama has described this passport as "the face of the Albanian European passport."

The Socialists' promise is that the European passport will enable free movement, employment and study opportunities in EU countries, as well as equal benefits in health and social services. Rama emphasizes that this will make Albanians first-class citizens in Europe.

He has declared that whoever wants an EU passport has only one way, to vote for the Socialist Party, in other words, give us your vote, we will give you a European passport!

Rama has presented himself and the force he leads as the only opportunity to secure a European passport for Albanians and to achieve Albania's full integration into the European Union by 2030.

"May 11 is an encounter with history, because on May 11, voters will choose with their votes for Albania to join the EU, to become equal citizens of Europe," said Rama.

On the other hand, EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos, during a press conference with Prime Minister Edi Rama in Tirana on March 13, emphasized that Albanian citizens will decide what kind of government they will have and that she does not expect the elections to slow down the integration process, implying that the political force that will win and then lead is not important, more than the fulfillment of the reforms required by the European Union.

"I do not expect the elections to slow down the EU integration process because it will happen over a long period of time and it is a deep process and I am sure that all those reforms will continue and these reforms are not being carried out by Albania because the European Union loves them but because this is a transformative, transformative process for Albania and it is the Albanian citizens themselves who will decide what kind of government you will have in the future," said Kos.

On the other hand, the Albanian opposition has reacted harshly to Prime Minister Edi Rama's promise to grant European passports to Albanian citizens, considering it an electoral maneuver and an excuse for the government's failures.

The leader of the Democratic Party, Sali Berisha, has emphasized that Edi Rama's European passports are worthless and that Albania has failed to meet the necessary criteria for membership in the European Union.

"Rama's European passport is a fraud, like the Tirana incinerator! He seeks to divert attention from the failures of 12 years, talking about lizards and lizards," Berisha stressed during an electoral meeting.

The electoral campaigns of each political force are characterized by promises that are often exaggerated and forgotten after the voting process. It remains to be seen whether the main promise of the socialist leader Edi Rama will be fulfilled.

The EU integration process has proven over time to be very complicated and influenced by a number of factors, and not only for Albania.

The deadlines proposed by Rama may be influenced by external factors, such as the stance of EU countries and the fulfillment of the required reforms, while there is also the risk of leaving Albania in a deadlock, beyond electoral promises. / CNA