ANKARA, March 14 (Xinhua) — Visiting Romanian Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean on Thursday expressed his country’s support for Turkey’s membership in the European Union (EU).
Speaking at a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu in the Turkish capital of Ankara, Corlatean said Romania supported Turkey’s EU process.
He said “Romania supports the opening of chapters in Turkey’s EU accession process. Because, we believe this would create a win- win situation for both Turkey and the EU member states.”
Turkey’s growing clout in the region, both economically and politically, may have given a boost to Turkey’s membership bid. Most EU member states support Turkish membership, while the other few led by Germany and France are finding it increasingly difficult to make their case against Turkey.
The 27-member bloc’s highest decision-making body, the EU Council, reiterated last December the bloc’s commitment to active accession negotiations with Turkey, while calling for a new momentum in these negotiations, which was interpreted as an indication that France and Germany increasingly find themselves isolated in the bloc in their opposition to Turkish membership.
During her visit to Turkey last month, German Chancellor Angela Merkel pressed Ankara to open its ports and airports to ships and planes from Cyprus, while expressing her support for reviving the stalled accession talks between Turkey and the EU.
Turkey opened accession talks with the EU in 2005 but has only been able to finish talks on one of the 35 chapters that a candidate country has to complete before joining the bloc. No chapter has been opened for talks for the past two and a half years.
via Romania vows to support Turkey’s EU membership — Shanghai Daily | 上海日报 — English Window to China New.
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