Hopes run high for Hungary's EU term presidency

Turkish officials have expressed optimism about moving ahead with the country's European Union accession negotiations during the Hungarian term presidency, despite a lack of progress under previous EU president Belgium. "Hungary has already taken its first step to support Turkey's EU membership," State Minister Egemen Bagis, Turkey's chief EU negotiator, told daily Sabah yesterday. "It will organize a ministerial summit for the candidate countries on Jan. 13 in Hungary. Candidate countries, including Turkey, will be meeting for the first time since 2005." Hungary started its six-month rotating EU presidency on Jan. 1. During Belgium's term, Turkey failed to open a single chapter in its talks with the bloc. Each side blamed the failure on the other, but Bagis said it was due to a disagreement between Belgium and the European Commission. "We've actually removed necessary [obstacles] to be able to open the competition chapter," he said. "Turkey's economic boom is whetting the Europeans' appetite. But we're not going to risk our economy and industry to open a chapter. If Europeans try to get further concessions from us, we would decide not to open this chapter." Asked about his expectations for Hungary's term presidency, Bagis recalled a meeting he held last year with Hungarian President Pal Schmitt: "He told me: 'Normally I don't meet with government ministers. You're the first. There's a reason for this. Your ancestors who once ruled our country didn't interfere in either our religion or language. They treated us with tolerance." According to Bagis, Schmitt promised to back Turkey's EU bid, just as Turkey supported Hungary's successful NATO membership bid.