EU split on imposing tougher entry conditions on Turkey (Roundup)

Brussels/Berlin/Ankara - Senior European Union officials Tuesday voiced divergent views on Turkey's troubled bid to join the 25-nation bloc, with Germany and France set to call for tougher conditions on Ankara but Finland, Sweden and Estonia warning against any move to break off entry talks.

Representing EU hardliners, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Jacques Chirac are expected at talks in Mettlach, Germany, to demand stronger action against Ankara for refusing to open its ports to Greek Cypriot vessels.

Both leaders say last week's proposals by the European Commission for a partial suspension of Turkish accession talks needs to be toughened up by introducing a 'review clause' allowing any EU state to veto a resumption of negotiations with Ankara.

Merkel, who opposes Turkish entry to the EU, has said a vote should only take place after an 18-month waiting period.

However, in comments made to the European Parliament in Brussels, Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, whose country holds the current EU presidency, said he favoured the commission's call for a partial freeze in talks.

Vanhanen said the commission's stance provided a 'good basis for a decision' on Turkey when EU foreign ministers meet in Brussels next Monday.

The commission - the EU's executive agendy - is urging the bloc's governments to put negotiations on ice for eight of 35 policy areas covered in the talks because of Turkey's non-compliance with EU demands.

The Finnish premier also insisted he wanted discussions on Turkey to be kept off the agenda of the EU summit in Brussels on December 14-15.

While admitting ties with Ankara were difficult at the moment, Vanhanen insisted that plans for opening the EU club to Turkey should be kept on track.

The foreign ministers of Estonia and Sweden have also cold-shouldered Merkel and Chirac's tough line.

'Our relations to Turkey should be neither frozen nor should any doors for further (EU) expansion be closed,' said Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt and Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet in comments published in the German daily Die Welt.

Both ministers said continuing membership talks with Ankara was vital to insure that Turkey continued its democratic reforms

Bildt and Paet underlined that the division of Cyprus could only be resolved by working with the Turkish government. The island has been split since 1974 between the Greek Cypriot south, which is part of the EU, and the Turkish north which is not recognised and subject to an EU boycott.

'A reunification of Cyprus will only be achieved if Turkey is brought closer to the EU - otherwise there is the apparent risk of a permanent division,' said the ministers.

Britain and Italy are also part of the growing number of EU states opposed to an overly-harsh stance on Ankara.

In addition, Ankara's allies in the US have weighed into the debate. US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burn said in Brussels late Monday that any EU move to close the door on Turkish membership would be a major 'strategic miscalculation.'

The US envoy said the EU's decision last year to open accession talks with Turkey - 'a major secular Muslim democracy' - was one of the most important decisions made by Europe at the beginning of the 21st century.

In comments made in Ankara, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara also cautioned the EU against making a 'historic mistake.'

'Turkey is as important for the European Union as the European Union is for Turkey,' said Erdogan who accused 'certain right-wing' parties in Europe of lacking vision.

The Turkish prime minister has said repeatedly that Ankara would only move on the ports issue once an international embargo was lifted on northern Turkish Cyprus which voted in favour of a UN-sponsored reunification plan for the island in 2004.

EU foreign ministers will try and clinch agreement on how to proceed with Turkey in talks in Brussels on December 11.

However, diplomats in Brussels concede that given the high stakes in EU-Turkey relations, EU leaders will also have to inevitably discuss the question.

The foreign ministers of Estonia and Sweden have also cold-shouldered Merkel and Chirac's tough line. 'Our relations to Turkey should be neither frozen nor should any doors for further (EU) expansion be closed,' said Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt and Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet in comments published in the German daily Die Welt. Both ministers said continuing membership talks with Ankara was vital to insure that Turkey continued its democratic reforms. Bildt and Paet underlined that the division of Cyprus could only be resolved by working with the Turkish government. The island has been split since 1974 between the Greek Cypriot south, which is part of the EU, and the Turkish north which is not recognised and subject to an EU boycott. 'A reunification of Cyprus will only be achieved if Turkey is brought closer to the EU - otherwise there is the apparent risk of a permanent division,' said the ministers... The US envoy said the EU's decision last year to open accession talks with Turkey - 'a major secular Muslim democracy' - was one of the most important decisions made by Europe at the beginning of the 21st century... The Turkish prime minister has said repeatedly that Ankara would only move on the ports issue once an international embargo was lifted on northern Turkish Cyprus which voted in favour of a UN-sponsored reunification plan for the island in 2004.

Despite the sound and fury, there's been no real change in the EU member nations' stance since EEC membership was first waved under the Turkish nose.

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