EU’s new enlargement chief to become regular visitor to Turkey

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso on Friday named the 26 people he wants to help him drive the EU’s day-to-day agenda for the next five years, including nominees for new posts that reflect major shifts in policy priorities, notably climate issues. The incoming EU executive of nine women and 18 men, including Barroso, must still clear confirmation hearings in the European Parliament scheduled for the week of Jan. 18.

Fuele, who will replace Finland’s commissioner for enlargement, Olli Rehn, who has been in his post since autumn 2004, briefly stated that he believed Turkey’s membership negotiations should continue when asked in an interview with Czech daily MF DNES whether Turkey belonged to Europe.

“In my opinion, Turkey’s accession negotiations with the EU should continue. I’ll answer this and similar questions at the European Parliament,” Fuele was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency in remarks published over the weekend in the Czech daily before he assumed his post in Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer’s caretaker cabinet.

When asked whether Turkey acted in harmony with Western structures, Fuele said, “I’ve seen that Turkey, as a NATO member, is able to protect along with other members the values on which the alliance is founded.”

In separate remarks delivered over the weekend, Fuele stated that he will be focusing most of his attention and visits on the Western Balkans along Turkey, adding that he has been to the Balkans many times before.

“I was in Kosovo, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia as an ambassador to NATO mostly but also during visits as the deputy defense minister, as well as privately,” Fuele said.

“The started negotiations need to continue, but I think that now is not the moment for predicting what country will be entering the EU next,” he was quoted as saying.

In early November, during a hearing about his nomination before members of the Committee for European Affairs at the Chamber of Deputies, Fuele said he supported the entry of Balkan countries to NATO and the EU and conditionally supported the admission of Turkey to the EU, Czech media reported. “I think that only countries that meet the requirements set by the EU belong in it,” Fuele said, noting that Turkey was not prepared for EU membership at present.