Swedish FM Bildt: "Regardless of public opinion, the EU should keep its promises to Turkey"

The European Union should keep its promises to Turkey regardless of public opinion, said EU Term President Sweden's Foreign Minister Carl Bildt yesterday. "Did the EU enlargements up to now take place because the public wanted them?" he said during a debate over EU enlargement in the European Parliament. "As far as I can see, far-right deputies are against Turkey's EU membership due to its large, majority-Muslim population. But the Treaty of Amsterdam and its Article 49 doesn't exclude big countries. Nor does the treaty have religious criteria. This is what we should abide by."