Several candidates expressed satisfaction yesterday with the EU Commission report which said they were ready for admission to the Union. But the US criticised the EU's approach to Turkey, saying Brussels was showing a lack of respect to Ankara.
The Commission report did not set a date for Turkish accession, an omission which a US State Department official regarded as a snub. "We are concerned about a lack of respect being shown to the Turks," the official said. "We believe that Turkey's future is in Europe and so we have consistently supported Turkey's European aspirations."
US diplomats had been quietly pressing EU members on Turkey's behalf, citing its key role in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and as a western-leaning, secular Muslim state, the official said.
But the official allowed that Washington's lobbying did not carry much weight, chiefly because it is not an EU member and because some European countries had bristled at the US effort.
"We recognise that we are not members and that our influence is limited," said the official.
Turkey had been pushing the EU to set a date since adopting human rights reforms in August, including the abolition of the death penalty and boosting rights for its Kurdish minority.
Foreign Minister Mr Sukru Sina Gurel warned at the weekend that ties between Ankara and the EU would suffer if his country was not given a date this year for the opening of accession talks.
The report's backing for Slovenia showed that the small Alpine state has fulfilled the requirements for becoming a member, said Prime Minister Mr Janez Drnovsek.
"The report on Slovenia's progress is very positive . . . it evaluates that we are prepared for membership and fulfil all the requirements," Mr Drnovsek said.
"From here on [our membership\] depends on other factors which we cannot influence," he said, referring to the Irish referendum on the Nice Treaty. Mr Drnovsek said if the referendum was rejected, "that would delay enlargement and a B scenario would have to be carried out although nobody wants to talk about it".
Lithuania said the EU report was "good and expected news". However, Mr Antanas Valionis, Foreign Minister, said: "That does not mean that we can relax . . . We will have much to do in order to successfully conclude talks."
He pledged that Lithuania would pay special attention to the problems of unemployment and corruption, singled out as problem areas in the EU report.
Greece also welcomed the report, which said Cyprus should join the Union in 2004. "The European Commission is positive on Cyprus," said Prime Minister Mr Costas Simitis. "But it is a difficult time. It is a time when we must be very careful."
Turkey has threatened to annex the northern third of the island if Cyprus joins without having solved the ethnic dispute. While Brussels said it would like to see an end to the dispute ahead of Cyprus's accession, it has said a settlement is not a prerequisite.
"With regard to the economic and social facts, Cyprus is the most advanced country of the candidate countries . . . Cyprus cannot be held hostage by any other country," said Mr Simitis. - (AFP, Reuters)