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New Europe supports Turkey's EU bid with greater expansion in mind

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  • New Europe supports Turkey's EU bid with greater expansion in mind

    New Europe supports Turkey's EU bid with greater expansion in mind

    Agence France Presse
    October 4, 2004 Monday

    BY: Jean-Luc Testault

    PRAGUE

    The European Union's newest members are giving their backing to
    Turkey's EU bid as a way of achieving their aim of a greatly enlarged
    Europe that would include the Balkans, Ukraine and Belarus, and even
    Georgia.

    Most leaders in the new EU member countries consider it reasonable to
    give Turkey what they themselves obtained, especially since the Muslim
    country has been a candidate since 1987, well before the fall of
    communism in eastern Europe.

    "The current Turkish government has achieved much in reforming the
    country and it would be fair that these efforts are recognised with
    the opening of EU membership talks," Lithuanian Foreign Minister
    Antanas Valionis told AFP.

    Even the government of Cyprus is not deeply hostile to Turkey's
    admission, despite the presence of 35,000 Turkish soldiers in the
    north of the island, which has been divided for 30 years.

    The Greek Cypriot side, which joined the EU on May 1, hopes to benefit
    from Turkey's bid to bring about reunification of the island.

    In former communist Europe too, support for Turkey's entry is seen as
    a way of paving the way for the admission of Ukraine.

    "The debate on Turkey's European integration is a good opportunity
    also to discuss Ukraine's accession," said Maciej Grabowski, spokesman
    for the liberal PO, the main opposition party in Poland.

    "Some European countries oppose the accession of Turkey, Ukraine's
    accession also has its opponents and it would be good to engage in a
    debate on this theme," he added.

    "If you look at a map, you can see that Belarus and Ukraine make up
    part of Europe and I don't see why we would refuse others that what we
    were generously given," said Estonian Foreign Minister Kriistina
    Ojuland.

    Polish leaders avoid talking openly of bringing Belarus into the EU
    because of the current dictatorial regime of Alexander Lukashenko. But
    in several months ago former Czech president Vaclav Havel called on
    the EU to offer a perspective to democrats in Belarus.

    "I think that the future of Belarus is solidly bound to that of
    Europe, the door has to stay open," he wrote in a newspaper column.

    A tireless advocate of Ukraine, Polish President Aleksander
    Kwasniewski dreams openly of a Europe which also encompasses Moldova
    and the Caucasus.

    These ambitions however will meet strong opposition within the
    European Union, already digesting its historic enlargement to 25
    members.

    The current commission planned fixing the borders after the eventual
    integration of Turkey and the Balkans.

    And if in the new EU countries the Turkish question is not generating
    huge debate at the moment, voices are beginning to be heard.

    "The situation (of Turkey) is not comparable with that of the new
    members since they are, without discussion, European countries with
    standard democratic systems," said Pavol Hrusovsky, the Christian
    Democrat president of the Slovak Parliament.

    In the Czech Republic one of the most pro-European personalities is
    campaigning against Turkey's admission.

    "The EU will have borders with Syria, Iraq, Iran, Armenia and Georgia,
    these are infinitely explosive regions," Josef Zieleniec, European
    member of parliament and former foreign minister said last week in his
    article "The cradle of a new threatening crisis".

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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