ISTANBUL (AFP) – Bridging political rifts in Turkey, torn between secularists and defenders of broader religious freedom, is crucial for the country’s EU membership bid, the European Commission chief said yesterday. “The experience of previous enlargements shows that accession can only be achieved on the basis of a strong political and societal consensus on reform,” Jose Manuel Barroso said at a lunch hosted by Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan. “The momentum for reform in Turkey can be found on the basis of such a consensus,” he said, adding that “an agreement about the basic rules on the way the state and society works” was crucial. Earlier yesterday, Barroso met with Patriarch Vartholomaios, the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, who has been based in Istanbul since Byzantine times and the city’s mufti, or highest Muslim authority. He was to give a conference at Istanbul’s Bilgi University later in the day before wrapping up his visit today.

SOFIA (Reuters) – Bulgaria’s government won a no-confidence vote yesterday over its response to crime and graft, but the European Union is so worried about the issue that the country could face sanctions and lose millions in aid. The socialist-led coalition survived with 117 deputies voting against the opposition motion and 82 for it. Junior center-right coalition partner NDSV abstained to show it was fed up with sluggish reforms. Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev told parliament yesterday he would start talks about a possible Cabinet reshuffle and seek renewed support for reforms after NDSV’s abstention. The government faces broader challenges from the EU, which has called for “urgent action” following the killings of an author of books on the Bulgarian mafia and the chief of an energy company. “In Bulgaria, crime and corruption have (become) intertwined with the state. We have to see an end to that, we have to see decisive measures and people sent to jail,” a EU diplomat said.

Serbian President Boris Tadic has said he would sign an accord establishing closer ties with the European Union if Belgrade was given a chance to do so, Radio B92 reported yesterday. The Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA), a first step on the way toward full EU membership, “will of course be signed,” Tadic said. According to sources close to the president, the EU could ask Serbia to sign the SAA on April 28, B92 said. (AFP)

A protester injured in violent Kurdish demonstrations in southeast Turkey last month died in the hospital yesterday, bringing the death toll from the unrest to three, the Anatolia news agency reported. The 37-year-old man was injured during demonstrations in the town of Yuksekova on March 23, where one of the two other victims had died, Anatolia said. (AFP)