Saturday, 21 November 2009Herman 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.
Head of USAK Center for EU Studies, Prof. Dr. Mehmet Ozcan commented on the issue by saying that "The Presidency and High Representative elections showed once again that if France and Germany act in accordance with each other, it is quite difficult to make a decision contrary to their position. Germany and France try to shape the Union in line with their own interests and priorities. For the sake of that purpose, Sarkozy and Merkel prevented the election of a representative who could eclipse them and manage to take personal initiatives in the international arena on behalf of the Union. The Belgium Prime Minister, in that sense, is the most proper one for the EU Presidency."
Regarding Rompuy's ideas on Turkey-EU relations and those of Merkel and Sarkozy he mentioned that "Merkel and Sarkozy claim the same things in regard to Turkey. They think that “privileged partnership” is the ideal form for Turkey-EU relations. For example, the French President said once upon a time that “… I am not in favor of Turkey’s membership to the EU. Turkey belongs to Asia Minor. Turkey is a great civilization. Yet, it is not European.” So, one can speak about the perfect match between the ideas of Sarkozy and Belgium Prime Minister."
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Saturday, 21 November 2009
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