The European Parliament held a heated debate yesterday (25 November) on future EU enlargement but also offered congratulations to Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn, who is expected to take a different portfolio in the Barroso II team.Olli Rehn, the quiet Finn who once humbly described himself as "only the factory manager" in the gigantic effort of preparing countries for EU membership, summed up his five-year term by saying that five years ago, he had wanted to see a number of things achieved by the end of 2009:
* An EU of 27 member states;
* Croatia's accession process entering the final stages;
* the other Western Balkan countries anchored in the EU through Stabilization and Association Agreements (SAAs);
* Turkey firmly on a European track;
* Kosovo's status settled, and;
* Cyprus reunified.

Labels: EU Enlargement, Turkey

Labels: EU, EU Enlargement

Sweden Backs Turkey for EU Membership - by Bao Congying

Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said Tuesday that Sweden supports Turkey's bid to join the European Union (EU). Reinfeldt made the remarks at a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan following their talks in the Turkish capital.

"Turkey belongs to Europe. Turkey is a crucial country for Europe. With its regional role and young population, Turkey carries strategic importance for the EU," Reinfeldt said.

"Topics such as press freedom, freedom of expression, religious minorities, cultural rights, and the socioeconomic situation in southeastern Anatolia may be brought up in the EU process. The establishment of a TV channel in Kurdish in Turkey was an important step," Reinfeldt said.

Labels: EU Enlargement, Sweden, Turkey

Labels: EU Enlargement, Free Press, Freedom of Expression, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey

Leave Turkey’s bid to join EU to us, Nicolas Sarkozy warns Barack Obama - by David Charter

The love-in between Nicolas Sarkozy and Barack Obama proved short-lived after the French President warned his US counterpart yesterday to keep his nose out of the issue of Turkey’s membership of the European Union. President Obama used his first EU-US summit, on the eve of his visit to Turkey, to encourage European leaders to embrace the Muslim country and “anchor it in Europe”. However, Mr Sarkozy, a long-standing opponent of full membership for Turkey, rebuffed the US leader in language that seemed to sour the revival of Franco-US relations. Support for Turkey in joining the EU, a process that it began formally in 2005 and hopes to complete before 2020, has long been an American foreign policy goal.

Mr Sarkozy, who has talked of offering Turkey a privileged partnership rather than membership, did not wait to hit back. “I have been working hand in hand with President Obama but when it comes to the European Union it is up to member states of the European Union to decide [on membership],” Mr Sarkozy said in an interview on French television. “I have always been opposed to this entry and I remain opposed,” he added.

Labels: Barack Obama, EU Enlargement, Turkey, USA

The EU-Turkey-Cyprus Triangle: "Setting the Stage" - by Hugh Pope

Turkey has been converging formally with the European Union and its predecessors since it signed an association agreement in 1963, the same year the dispute between Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots, Turkey and Greece over Cyprus became both a cause and symptom of ups and downs in the EU-Turkey relationship. On the Mediterranean island, armed conflict has been minimal since the 1974 Turkish invasion and occupation of the northern third, and Turkey and Greece have smoothed over their differences since a 1999 rapprochement. But the 2004 entry of the Republic of Cyprus into the EU as a divided country imported this frozen conflict into the heart of Europe, and created an unbreakable triangle between the EU, Turkey and Cyprus.

Labels: Cyprus, EU, EU Enlargement, Turkey

Labels: EU, EU Enlargement