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
Published:
27 September 2004 y., Monday
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, Bulgarian Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg said in interview published Sunday.
Speaking three days before the start of his official two-day visit to Spain, the Bulgarian leader told the Spanish daily El Pais: "To reject them would be an injustice. The issue is whether they meet the accession criteria."
"For 50 years, Turkey has been one of the most importants players in NATO. Turkey has a role to play in Europe. It's our neighbor. How can we tell them: You have been Europeans when you could defend us and now, no ? It's unacceptable," he added.
Bulgaria, who recently joined NATO, is itself a candidate for EU membership.
Saxe-Coburg, a former monarch who lived in exile in Spain for 55 years before returning to his country after the fall of communism, also stressed that Bulgaria "had been part of this (Ottoman ) empire (now Turkey) for five centuries."
"It's a very big neighbor with a phenomenal economic potential," he added.
Šaltinis:
turkishpress.com
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
At the European Union‘s General Affairs Council meeting on 7 December in Brussels, Lithuania‘s Minister of Foreign Affairs and his counterparts discussed preparation of the European Council scheduled for 10–11 December, as well as a work programme prepared by the trio of future EU presidencies: Spain, Belgium and Hungary.
more »
On December 9, Wednesday, President Dalia Grybauskaitė will receive Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council.
more »
In the meeting with leaders of parliamentary groups of the Seimas, President of the Republic of Lithuania D. Grybauskaitė underlined that the state budget for 2010 would decide whether Lithuania would manage to overcome the economic downturn or, on the contrary, fall deeper into it, and urged all political forces to assume political responsibility.
more »
On 8–9 December, Vilnius will host consultations among the U.S.A., Italy, Spain, and Lithuania - the four countries which lead Provincial Reconstruction Teams under the Regional Command West of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.
more »
President Dalia Grybauskaitė extended congratulations to President Tarja Kaarina Halonen of Finland on the occasion of Independence Day.
more »
Continuing his official visit to India, today Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vygaudas Ušackas together with Economy Minister Dainius Kreivys and a business delegation of 28 members arrived in Mumbai, India’s financial centre.
more »
On 2-5 December, Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vygaudas Ušackas is paying an official visit to India.
more »
During the plenary session of the Ministerial Council of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe on 1 December in Athens, Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs V. Ušackas stressed the importance of the dialogue on European security for strengthening the mutual confidence of the participating States.
more »
President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė received Ambassador of the United States of America to Lithuania, Anne Elizabeth Derse.
more »
On 26 November in Vilnius, Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vygaudas Ušackas met with Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia David Bakradze, who is on a visit to Lithuania.
more »