Czechs back Turkey EU bid, want to speed up talks

...Mirek Topolanek said on Thursday.

The Czechs will hold the rotating EU presidency in the first half of 2009, directly following France, which opposes Turkey's EU bid.

Speaking at a joint news conference with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, Topolanek said he saw no good alternative to full Turkish membership in the bloc.

"In the first half of 2009, during the Czech presidency, we can intensify the negotiations, we can negotiate individual chapters much more intensively, because it is in the Czech Republic's interest," Topolanek said.

"We believe that no other form of partnership, be it 'privileged partnership' or membership in the planned Mediterranean Union, can substitute for full membership."

Topolanek's right-wing Civic Democrats (ODS) have been backing EU enlargement rather than deeper integration of the club. The Czechs joined the EU in May 2004 as part of the first wave of expansion to include former communist Europe.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said earlier this week he would not allow talks on some of the 35 negotiating "chapters" or policy areas to go ahead because they implied full membership.

Speaking to leaders of the European Parliament, Sarkozy gave no direct answer when asked if he would use the French presidency to stop the talks, a participant of the meeting said.

France has been pushing the idea to create the "Mediterranean Union", but Turkey has made it clear it would not see it as an alternative to EU membership. (Reporting by Jan Lopatka; Editing by Matthew Jones)

Keywords: CZECH TURKEY/EU

[PRAGUE/Reuters/Finance.cz]