The EU's enlargement commissioner has warned European Union members and candidate states it was "now or never" for enlargement.
"Future members and current member states know that it's now or never. If we don't succeed now, it will become more difficult in the future," Mr Guenter Verheugen said ahead of the EU summit in Copenhagen, which begins today.
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EU enlargement commissioner Mr Guenter Verheugen
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"A failure in Copenhagen or a delay could have serious affects on public opinion in the future member states," he said.
The EU is expected to announce at the summit that 10 countries, eight Central and Eastern European states and two from the Mediterranean region, will be invited to join the bloc in 2004.
The 10 nations poised to be accepted are Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Cyprus and Malta. But some of the candidates, notably Poland and Malta, have been holding out for more EU aid to join.
Denmark today took a tough stand toward Turkey, Cyprus and other East European nations hoping to join. With diplomatic pressure building, Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen has also told Washington it is up to EU leaders to decide whether to admit Turkey.
Mr Rasmussen warned the 10 applicants not to price themselves out of the market; urged Turkey to be patient about getting a date to start talks about joining; and pleaded for a united Cyprus to join.
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Turkey wants a date by next year at the latest to start talks about joining the bloc. But most EU states back a Franco-German plan to open talks with Ankara only in mid-2005.
"We will fight until the last second in Copenhagen to get before the end of 2003 a firm date for when talks can start," Turkey's ruling party leader, Mr Tayyip Erdogan, said. "It is not Turkey that is now being tested, it is the EU. It must show its colors".
Mr Rasmussen said Mr Bush had sent a clear message in a telephone call that the European Union should send a "strong and positive signal to Turkey."
"I will not be pressured but of course I listen carefully to those who offer me good advice," Mr Rasmussen said. "President Bush is well aware of the fact that this is a European decision".
