Austria Asks for Pause in Turkey's EU Negotiations

PanARMENIAN.Net - Austria, whose public is largely against Turkey's possible membership to the European Union, has asked for a pause in Turkey's EU entry talks. Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik spoke to press on Monday prior to the EU Foreign Ministers meeting in Brussels. "If there is no important move between now and December, it might be wise to agree on a time-out to reduce tensions," she said. Plassnik was largely alone in this opinion as other EU Foreign Ministers did not support such a move. The French and German ministers admitted that it would of no use to give a time-out in Turkey's EU negotiations and even Greek Cypriot Foreign Minister Yiorgos Lillikas said that even they did not want a pause in negotiations with Turkey. Maltese Foreign Minister Michael Frendo said there would be a "major crisis" if Turkey did not fulfill its commitments on giving access to Cypriot shipping but also added that he was against a full suspension of negotiations, reports Zaman.