EU Commissioner for External Relations Mr Chris Patten today repeated his warning that EU enlargement will not be possible if Ireland rejects the Nice Treaty for a second time.
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EU Commissioner for External Relations Mr Chris Patten
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Speaking to the National Forum on Europe in Dublin today, Mr Patten described EU enlargement as "the most important moral cause".
The former Hong Kong Governor said said the consequence of rejecting the Treaty is that the EU we will not be able to offer EU membership to 10 or more countries of central and eastern Europe which have been "the victims of some of the most appalling organised criminality in human history of the last 50 years."
"And the message to them will be sorry, but you have to go on paying for that," he added.
Appealing to Irish citizens, Mr Patten warned that a rejection would have serious political consequences for Ireland saying: "It is not hectoring or chastising, you are entirely entitled to do what you want to do as democratic citizens, but don't expect me to pretend that the consequences are other than I have described."
Mr Patten will meet the Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Cowen this afternoon in Dublin. The purpose of the meeting will be to discuss the situation in the Middle East, the Nice Treaty, Afghanistan and the worsening situation in Zimbabwe.