Turkey's membership in EU cold bring to a clash between France and Sweden

PanARMENIAN.Net - French President Nicolas Sarkozy has canceled a visit to Sweden reportedly because he wanted to avoid a clash with Swedish leaders over their support of Turkey's membership in the European Union.



Sarkozy's office said the visit was canceled due to scheduling problems, but French newspaper Le Figaro said on Thursday that the French leader, an outspoken opponent of Turkish accession to the EU, did not want to publicly highlight disagreements over Turkey when he meets with Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt.



On Monday, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt told Le Figaro that the EU had "a strategic interest" in Turkey's EU integration and warned against "closing the door" to Ankara, Today's Zaman reported.



The leaders of Germany and France, Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy denounced the idea of expanding the European Union indefinitely to include new members such as Turkey. "A Europe without borders would be a Europe without identity," the French President emphasized.