Romania Elections and European Union Membership

4.04.17pm GMT Tue 14th Dec 2004

Romania Elections and European Union Membership

Traian Basescu, the Mayor of Bucharest was won the Romanian Presidential Election with 51.75% of the votes. This change of Government bodes well for Romania's desire to join the European Union. However will have overcome the inertia of the country's bureaucracy and the wilful determination of some to keep hold of old Communist ways before any realistic change of membership is available.

This Thursday and Friday EU Leaders will meet to decide if Turkey should be allowed to apply for full membership of the EU. Turkey has had working relations with the, then, EEC, since the 1960s. They is a valid argument as to if Turkey is 'European' or 'Asian' or even if Turkey is a free and democratic country with an acceptable Human Rights record. Turkey may not be perfect in some areas but has certainly been improving especially in the area of Human Rights, some of the former communist countries of Eastern Europe were far form ideal candidates but many are now in the EU. It is time to allow Turkey the right to apply for full membership, which in itself is not a straight forward process and could take ten or more years.