Clinton backs Turkey's fight to join EU
By Andrew Gimson in Berlin
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External Links
Remarks by President Clinton to the German people [13 May '98] - The
White House
EU relations with Turkey - European Commission
Turkish politics & policy - Republic of Turkey home page
Turkish daily news connections - Republic of Turkey home page
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PRESIDENT Clinton last night offered a resounding declaration of
American support for the further expansion of the European Union, which
he said should eventually embrace Turkey as well as the whole of central
Europe.
Speaking in Berlin, Mr Clinton will have annoyed his host, Chancellor
Kohl, by supporting Turkish membership of the EU, which the German
leader has opposed. But the rest of the President's speech put
Washington firmly behind the development of the single European currency
and other integration schemes that Bonn holds dear.
Mr Clinton said the "dream of a united Europe", which had existed since
Charlemagne, was at last about to be realised not by conquest but by
peaceful expansion. This united Europe would be based on "security
co-operation, free markets and vibrant democracies", and would itself
form part of the "Europe-Atlantic community" with the United States.
He hailed the development of "a successful democratic Russia . . .
Russia is now literally rebuilding itself . . . we must support this
Russian revolution". But he warned repeatedly that it was also important
for Europe to build a partnership with Ukraine.
The President was speaking at a ceremony to mark the 50th anniversary of
the Berlin airlift, when the Western Allies saved West Berlin from
falling into Stalin's hands.
He called on Germany to push on with bringing Europe's eastern half
fully into the Western community. Hillary Clinton was in France, where
she took part in an Internet link-up between children in Paris and
Washington. She will join her husband on Friday in Birmingham, where he
will attend the G-8 summit. |
