EU agrees to put freeze on Turkish accession process
Greece and Cyprus agreed to a deal with their European Union counterparts yesterday which will lead to Turkey’s membership talks with the 25-member block being partially frozen. EU foreign ministers reached a tentative agreement to suspend eight of the 35 chapters, or policy areas, into which the negotiations are divided. This had been the recommendation of the European Commission. The ministers also agreed that the EU will monitor Turkey’s compliance annually over the next three years. «We are satisfied,» said Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis who described the 10-hour negotiations as «especially difficult and complicated.» Bakoyannis had urged her counterparts to display a united front and said yesterday that this aim had been achieved with the agreement struck between the foreign ministers. She said that it sent «a clear message» to Turkey that it had to comply totally with EU criteria. Cypriot Foreign Minister Giorgos Lillikas said that Nicosia was also satisfied with the deal. «The negotiations cannot continue on the same level, the same rhythm, the same intensity,» Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos told reporters after the tense meeting between European diplomats. Moratinos cited Turkey’s refusal to implement the Ankara protocol it signed in 2005 to open its ports and airports to EU members, including Cyprus. Athens and Nicosia had pushed for at least a partial freeze on negotiations with Turkey because of its refusal to meet its commitments. Although Greece and Cyprus were part of a group of four countries, including the Netherlands and Austria, asking for more than eight negotiation chapters to be frozen, other member states, led by the United Kingdom, were pushing for Ankara to face as few sanctions as possible. Austria’s Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik said the stepping up of annual reviews on Turkey’s progress until 2009 was «an important and intelligent» signal to Turkey to meet its obligations. Greece and Cyprus are believed to have objected to the original text of a proposal put forward during yesterday’s talks by Finland, which holds the rotating EU presidency, that linked Turkey’s accession process to Cyprus reunification talks and lifting trade restrictions on Turkish Cypriots. The policy areas which will be frozen are connected to the Cyprus issue and include the free movement of goods, financial services, agriculture, customs union policy and external relations matters.
