"Ambassador: Romania promotes idea of EU strategy for Roma
Published: Wednesday 6 January 2010
The Roma minority issue does not only concern Romania and should be tackled from both a national and a European perspective, Romanian ambassador Lazăr Comănescu told EurActiv Germany in an interview.
...Are you in favour of Turkey's accession to the EU?
One of the strengths of the EU derives from the fact that the EU has always respected its own commitments. And there is a commitment, reconfirmed several times by the European Council, that Turkey is a candidate country. We cannot go backwards. The credibility of EU commitments would be at stake.
Of course we have to look at the other side of the coin, too: namely that every country that wants to join the EU has to fulfil the criteria for membership. Based on our own experiences I can tell you that it takes time. In the case of Romania, the accession negotiations started in 2000 and Romania became a member in 2007.
Negotiations with Turkey started only three years ago, but I would stress once again: there is a clear EU commitment towards Turkey. I should add that one very important objective of the EU is to build an area of stability around it. Turkey is definitely a key contributor to this. Turkey is essential for the future of the relations of the EU with Middle East or for the energy supply to Europe."
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