Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that EU enlargement should extend from the Balkans to Georgia and reach Ukraine and Moldova. However, this is possible only with full membership in the union of Turkey.
“It is necessary to start a new process of EU enlargement. It should spread from the Balkans to Georgia, reach Ukraine and Moldova… this region cannot be complete without Turkey’s participation in it,” the Foreign Minister said at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Bucharest (TASS quote).
Mr. Cavusoglu stated that Turkey will continue to be a player in the center of the conflict region and ensure its security and stability. “The successes of Turkey are the successes of Europe. Losing is not our choice,” the minister added. In his opinion, the need to reformat the security architecture in Europe arose because of the conflict in Ukraine.
He called on NATO partners not to draw dividing lines in the fight against threats to state security, including terrorism, which, in his opinion, remains one of the main threats to the alliance. “We should not forget that it was our country that faced the greatest threat of terrorism in the alliance,” Mr. Cavusoglu said.
Turkey applied to join the European Union in 1987 and received candidate status in 1999. In June, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said that modern Turkey is further from the EU than in 2005, when the country began negotiations on joining the union.
On February 28, Ukraine applied for EU membership. On June 23, the country received candidate status along with Moldova, which applied for membership on March 3 along with Georgia. Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Albania also have candidate status.
Source: Kommersant
