GERMAN CHANCELLOR ANGELA MERKEL SAID ON FRIDAY SHE WOULD NOT STAND IN THE WAY OF TURKEY'S TALKS TO JOIN THE EU, BUT VOWED TOUGH NEGOTIATIONS AND MADE CLEAR THAT ALL CRITERIA NEEDED TO BE MET BEFORE MEMBERSHIP WAS CONSIDERED, REUETERS REPORTED. "THERE HAVE BEEN AND CONTINUE TO BE VERY SCEPTICAL VIEWS IN MY PARTY ON THE QUESTION OF A FULL MEMBERSHIP FOR TURKEY IN THE EUROPEAN UNION," MERKEL SAID AT A JOINT PRESS CONFERENCE WITH TURKISH PRIME MINISTER TAYYIP ERDOGAN. "WE WILL FOLLOW AND ACCOMPANY THE MEMBERSHIP TALKS, MAKING CLEAR THAT ALL THE CRITERIA MUST BE MET AND, ON SOME ISSUES, ENSURING THAT THE NEGOTIATIONS ARE TOUGH," MERKEL ADDED. MERKEL'S PREDECESSOR GERHARD SCHROEDER WAS ONE OF EUROPE'S STRONGEST ADVOCATES OF TURKISH MEMBERSHIP IN THE EUROPEAN UNION. HE AND HIS FOREIGN MINISTER JOSCHKA FISCHER BELIEVED BRINGING THE MAINLY MUSLIM COUNTRY INTO THE BLOC WOULD BE A STRATEGIC COUP FOR EUROPE GIVEN THE MOUNTING THREAT OF ISLAMIC TERRORISM. MERKEL, HOWEVER, SEES TURKEY'S CANDIDACY AS DANGEROUS FOR EUROPEAN COHESIVENESS AND HAS SUGGESTED FEARS ABOUT TURKISH MEMBERSHIP WERE A BIG REASON BEHIND THE FRENCH AND DUTCH REJECTIONS OF THE EU CONSTITUTION ONE YEAR AGO. ALTHOUGH SHE HAS REFUSED TO CALL INTO QUESTION AN EU DECISION LAST YEAR TO OPEN MEMBERSHIP TALKS WITH ANKARA, SHE HAS MADE CLEAR THAT SHE SEES THE TALKS AS "OPEN-ENDED". IN A SPEECH TO THE GERMAN PARLIAMENT EARLIER THIS MONTH IN WHICH MERKEL VOWED TO REVIVE THE EU CONSTITUTION, SHE SAID EUROPE NEEDED TO DEVELOP ALTERNATIVES TO FULL MEMBERSHIP -- A THINLY VEILED REFERENCE TO THE "PRIVILEGED PARTNERSHIP" STATUS SHE HAS ADVOCATED FOR TURKEY. GERMANS THEMSELVES ARE ALSO LEERY ABOUT BRINGING TURKEY INTO THE 25-NATION BLOC. --MORE
