Foreign Minister Tuomioja wants equal treatment for Turkey in EU

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Finland's Minister for Foreign Affairs Erkki Tuomioja (SDP) disagrees with an Austrian proposal to place permanent restrictions on Turkey if it becomes a member of the European Union. At a foreign ministers' meeting of the European Union, Tuomioja insisted that Turkey should be entitled to equal treatment in the EU.
      The EU foreign ministers were in Brussels on Monday to discuss issues regarding the further enlargement of the EU. Membership talks with Turkey could begin next autumn. Talks with Croatia are to start in the spring.
     
Certain preconditions were set for both countries. The EU foreign ministers want Croatia to cooperate fully with the international tribunal investigating war crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia. Croatia was also urged to apprehend a suspected war criminal, General Ante Gotovina.
      Before talks can begin with Turkey, the EU expects the country to adopt a new criminal code.
      There was also intense debate about an Austrian proposal for permanent restrictions on access to the common EU labour market by Turkish citizens.
      Foreign Minister Tuomioja came out against the proposal, which he found "neither very attractive, nor logical".
      "On the one hand, it is emphasised that the EU cannot have very many different rules [for member states] - the goal is one of equal membership." Tuomioja added that it is not possible to have different classes of membership for different member states.
     
Taking a completely different view, Finnish conservative MEP Ville Itälä (Nat. Coalition) warned that Turkey, with its population of 70 million, would be too much of a burden for the EU. Speaking in Strasbourg, Itälä said that the EU could "choke on Turkish membership".


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Prospect of Turkish EU membership divided Finnish foreign policy leadership in 1999 (16.19.2004)

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