EU ambassadors failed to find a breakthrough on a joint negotiating position for Turkey's membership talks and could not agree on a common response to Ankara's refusal to recognize EU member Cyprus.
Britain and France narrowed their differences and presented a joint draft declaration which said the member states "regret that Turkey felt it necessary to make a declaration" in July noting its refusal to recognize the government in Nicosia.
It warned that if Turkey did not allow Cypriot ships or planes "full" access, negotiations could be halted on all transport-related issues.
The draft added that "prior recognition of all member states is a necessary component of accession. Accordingly, the EU underlines the importance it attaches to the normalization of relations between Turkey and all EU member states, as soon as possible."
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded the island following a short-lived coup backed by the supporters of union with Greece. Ankara supports the Turkish-Cypriot breakaway state in the north of the island, and not the internationally recognized Greek-Cypriot government in the south.
The EU argues that any country wishing to join the bloc must recognize all 25 EU members.
Cyprus is demanding Turkey recognize its government and wants a specific deadline for recognition during the entry talks. Britain, which holds the EU presidency, was trying to get a deal on the joint position before the planned opening of membership negotiations with Turkey on Oct. 3.
France, Austria and Cyprus have expressed reservations over talks with Turkey. France and Cyprus have demanded Turkey recognize the Mediterranean island. Austria is pushing for the EU's proposed negotiating mandate to contain a clarification that the outcome of talks should include a lesser option of a "partnership" between Ankara and the EU.
Turkey's entry negotiations are likely to last at least a decade. Diplomats have said the talks could be frozen if Turkey does not move toward recognizing Cyprus or fails to live up to human rights and political reform commitments.
Cyprus threatened on Tuesday to block Turkey's accession talks.
Meeting the last precondition to opening entry talks, Turkey signed a deal in July extending a customs union with the EU to include Cyprus and nine other countries that joined the bloc last year.
Ankara said by signing, it had met all demands for membership talks. However, it upset many EU governments by issuing a separate declaration stating its signature did not mean it recognizes the Cypriot government.
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
DENIAL: Musk said that the ‘New York Times was lying their ass off,’ after it reported he used so much drugs that he developed bladder problems Elon Musk on Saturday denied a report that he used ketamine and other drugs extensively last year on the US presidential campaign trail. The New York Times on Friday reported that the billionaire adviser to US President Donald Trump used so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that he developed bladder problems. The newspaper said the world’s richest person also took ecstasy and mushrooms, and traveled with a pill box last year, adding that it was not known whether Musk also took drugs while heading the so-called US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after Trump took power in January. In a
It turns out that looming collision between our Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies might not happen after all. Astronomers on Monday said that the probability of the two spiral galaxies colliding is less than previously thought, with a 50-50 chance within the next 10 billion years. That is essentially a coin flip, but still better odds than previous estimates and farther out in time. “As it stands, proclamations of the impending demise of our galaxy seem greatly exaggerated,” the Finnish-led team wrote in a study appearing in Nature Astronomy. While good news for the Milky Way galaxy, the latest forecast might be moot