Turkey will open accession talks with the European Union if a crucial European Commission report next month is acted on
Published:
10 September 2004 y., Friday
A start date remains uncertain, but insitutional officials say Brussels is set to recommend that Ankara has made sufficient progress with democracy, human rights and the rule of law.
On a visit to Turkey this week, Enlargement Commissioner Guenter Verheugen promised an objective report that would set no new conditions.
EU leaders will make a decision in December on this basis.
Yet predictions are that it will take at least 10 years before the mainly Muslim nation joins the bloc, even if negotiations go well.
By the time they are over, its population could equal that of the EU's most populous member state, Germany.
The latest alarm for critics of the Turkish government is its proposal to outlaw adultery - in stark contrast to reforms so far to conform with European norms.
The move has amplified fears of Islamic legal influences in the secular EU candidate state.
Šaltinis:
euronews.net
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
Ukraine has no plans to set up transit camps to receive Chechen refugees, the State Committee for Nationalities and Migration has said
more »
Belarus, its leaders shunned by much of the Western world, has snapped back at moves by the European Union and United States to restrict the movements of its senior officials and threatened to respond in kind
more »
Russian cabinet approves Kyoto Protocol; gives agreement big boost
more »
The former Czech president, Vaclav Havel, and about 100 other international figures have signed a petition accusing President Vladimir Putin of Russia of using the Beslan hostage drama to undermine democracy
more »
Slovenia has withdrawn its support for Croatia’s EU membership bid following a border incident on Thursday
more »
Top Chinese leaders and visiting Armenian President Robert Kocharyan agreed Tuesday that the two sides should strengthen cooperation in economic, technological and other areas
more »
Ferenc Gyurcsany was formally nominated Monday as Hungary's next prime minister by President Ferenc Madl
more »
Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria in the EU by 2007: Poland's Kwasniewski
more »
Denying the Turks accession to the European Union would be "an injustice" since Turkey, as a key member of NATO, has helped ensure European security for the past 50 years
more »
The censors on state-run Belarusian television are banning appeals by opposition candidates for the 17 October parliamentary elections
more »