Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

EU ministers fail to settle Turkish entry details

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • EU ministers fail to settle Turkish entry details

    Bahrain Tribune, Bahrain
    Dec 14 2004

    EU ministers fail to settle Turkish entry details

    Brussels: European Union foreign ministers yesterday failed to settle
    key details of Turkey's drive to join the 25-nation bloc, leaving EU
    leaders at a summit on December 16 and 17 to decide the date for
    opening the talks - and set new conditions for Turkish accession.
    The 25 foreign ministers continued to differ on a range of important
    issues, including the critical question of whether leaders should
    make a reference to a so-called `plan B' of offering Turkey a special
    partnership instead of membership.
    Germany remains adamant that the goal is to ensure Turkish accession
    to the bloc, not forge special ties with Ankara, German Foreign
    Minister Joschka Fischer said.
    `There was no discussion of a privileged partnership with Turkey,'
    Fischer said.
    Conservative politicians in Germany and France have stepped up
    demands that EU leaders must offer Ankara a special relationship
    rather than full-fledged entry.
    But rejecting such a half-measure, Fischer insisted: `Our aim must be
    Turkish accession.' French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier, however,
    said Paris wanted the summit statement to include a reference to a
    fall-back plan.
    If negotiations with Turkey failed, EU leaders should make clear that
    they were ready to preserve `strong links' between Turkey and the EU,
    Barnier said.
    Reflecting a more cautious stance on Turkey being adopted by French
    President Jacques Chirac, Barnier insisted that an EU decision to
    open negotiations with Turkey did not guarantee that Ankara would
    eventually join the bloc.
    `Negotiations will be long, difficult and transparent...there will be
    no shortcuts,' he warned.
    Negotiations should only open in end-2005, the French Foreign
    Minister said, adding that discussions would be subject to constant
    monitoring and could be suspended at any time by either side.
    France does not want its referendum on the new EU constitution set
    for next summer to be complicated by public opposition to Turkish
    accession. Barnier cautioned that the question of Turkey's entry was
    a source of great anxiety and unease in many parts of France.
    The EU summit is expected to set additional conditions for Turkey,
    including demands that Ankara must recognise the government of
    (Greek) Cyprus and accept a permanent cap on labour migration.
    Barnier said France would also ask Ankara during the negotiations to
    recognise the `tragedy' of the Armenian genocide in the early years
    of the last century.
    Pointing to the geo-strategic importance of allowing Turkey to join
    the EU, Fischer said this was a guarantee for the modernisation and
    `Europeanisation' of the country.
    He added that a summit statement on just how and when Turkey must
    recognise (Greek) Cyprus was still being worked out by the current
    Dutch presidency of the EU.
    In separate comments made in Berlin, Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter
    Balkenende said Turkey must recognise Cyprus in the run-up to this
    week's EU summit.
    `Turkey must understand that all member states say relations between
    Turkey and Cyprus should change in the future,' said Balkenende,
    after talks with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.
    The Turkish government has declined to give diplomatic recognition to
    Cyprus which joined the EU earlier this year. Ankara only recognizes
    the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
    Greek Cyprus is now part of the EU while Turkish Cyprus is not.
    Balkenende said Turkey should approve a protocol extending its EU
    customs union to Cyprus.
    Meanwhile, an opinion poll published in France's Le Figaro newspaper,
    said two of three French respondents and 55 per cent of Germans were
    opposed to Ankara becoming an E.U. member.
    On the other hand, people in Italy (49 per cent for, 24 per cent
    against), Britain (41 per cent for, 30 per cent against) and
    especially Spain (65 per cent for) said they were in favour of
    Turkish EU membership.
Working...
X