Friday, 20 November 2009
Herman Van Rompuy has become the first president of Europe. Mr. Rompuy is a hard-line opponent of Turkey's bid to join the European Union because it is an Islamic country. EU's new president think that EU members have to be Christian.
Herman Van Rompuy, Belgium's Prime Minister and a Christian Democrat, has in the past spoken out against Turkish EU membership because, he warned, it would dilute Europe's Christian heritage. His position on the issue is so strong that he has won the support of Vlaams Belang, the controversial far-right and racist Flemishh anti-immigrant party in Belgium.
Speaking 5 years ago, as an opposition politician, Mr Rompuy argued that Muslim Turkey could not be considered a candidate for EU membership.
"Turkey is not a part of Europe and will never be part of Europe. An expansion of the EU to include Turkey cannot be considered as just another expansion as in the past. The universal values which are in force in Europe, and which are fundamental values of Christianity, will loose vigour with the entry of a large Islamic country such as Turkey" he said.
Turkey is not a part of Europe and will never be part of Europe," Mr Van Rompuy said during a meeting of the Council of Europe on the subject of Turkey's possible entry into the EU, held in the Belgian parliament on December, 2004.
Dr. Nilgun Gulcan, Turkish political scientist, said 'the EU finds a president it deserves'. According to Dr. Gulcan after Merkel and Sarkozy the best name for the presidency could be a name like Herman Van Rompuy.
Sedat Laciner, Director of the Ankara-based International Strategic Research Organization, similarly criticized the new president of the EU. 'Turkey's accession to the EU is going to be the old and racist Europe's self-denial. Will Europe, that has made the Medieval Ages, Hitler and many other painful experiences mere recollections, demonstrate the same courage today? This is a moment of destiny, and concerns the world as a whole. However, only a Europe with Turkey can embrace the world. Mr. Rompuy is a bad choice for the new Europe. EU now has an anti-Muslim and anti-Turkish leader' he added.
The Presidency and High Representative elections have been occupying the EU agenda since the removal of Irish and Czech obstacles before the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. New posts envisaged by the Treaty are said to increase the visibility of the Union in the international platform and help to eliminate the contracting many voices which hinder the EU to act efficiently. However, the process is being accused of lacking transparency and promoting over-representation of men in EU’s senior posts.
