Pan Armenian News
FINLAND FOR LAUNCHING EU-TURKEY TALKS
24.09.2005 04:28
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ «If Turkey fulfills all preconditions for starting the
talks, the EU should launch these, though the final decision should be made
by the European Commission,» Finnish President Tarja Halonen stated.
«Finland has expressed its support to EU enlargement. Turkey has expressed
desire to join the EU before Finland, however, Finland has already been part
of the EU for 10 years. Thus, the EU-Turkey relations have a long history,»
she said. Answering a question on the introduction of the issue of opening
the Armenian-Turkish border to the talks agenda and establishment of
diplomatic relations, the Finnish President said, «I would not like to speak
of subjects that may appear during the talks in detail. However, we usually
expect the candidate states to comply with the Copenhagen criteria. At the
same time Turkey has to recognize all EU member states. Finally, we hope the
candidate countries will have good neighborly relations with all adjacent
countries. We tell all candidates about it, however there are two parties in
this case: neighborhood always provides for relations between the two
countries,» reported Mediamax. It should be noted that September 26-28 Tarja
Halonen will pay an official visit to Armenia.