Turkey's slow progress towards eventual European Union membership took a small step forward today as the 27-strong union agreed to open negotiations in two more areas of reforms needed for entry.
"It's done, we've agreed to open the two chapters," a diplomat from the EU presidency said of an agreement among national envoys to open the so-called negotiation "chapters" on freedom of movement of capital, and on media reform.
That will mean Turkey has opened talks on 10 out of the 35 chapters, of which it has provisionally completed negotiations on just one.
The talks on the two new chapters will be officially opened at a meeting in Brussels tomorrow.
EU envoys also agreed to open one area of talks with EU hopeful Croatia, and conclude three, after Slovenia vetoed wider progress hoped for by its Balkan neighbour.
Croatia had hoped to open 10 chapters and conclude five, but Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor said yesterday that Ljubljana would block that move over a long-running border dispute.
Slovenia said it was concerned that documentation offered by Croatia in the talks could be prejudicial to the outcome of the border dispute.
Analysts have said Slovenia's veto could make it very difficult for Croatia to complete accession talks next year, as it hopes for.
Talks with Croatia are much more advanced than with Turkey. Today's decision means it will have opened 22chapters and closed seven, out of 35.
While all EU states favour eventual membership for Croatia, Turkey's prospect of joining divides the EU. Both started EU entry talks in 2005.
Powerful states such as EU president France and Germany are not keen to see Turkey join the bloc, questioning the European credentials of the poor and overwhelmingly Muslim country of 70 million people.
Reuters