Croatia leaves Turkey behind in EU talks

Croatia leaves Turkey behind in EU talks

Zagreb has been invited by the Austrian EU presidency to send its position on two areas of the bloc's legislation - market competition and customs union.

Concerning the market competition chapter, Croatia can only start talks in the field once it meets benchmarks on state support for steel industry and ship building.

Turkey has however only seen progress in the market competition chapter, getting stuck on the customs chapter due to its stance on Cyprus' access to its ports and airspace, which violates a customs agreement Ankara signed with all 25-member states.

Turkey has said it will only change its position if Brussels also fulfils its political commitment to push through a trade arrangement for the northern province of Cyprus, inhabited by Turkish Cypriots.

Northern Cypriot citizens in 2004 voted in favour of the UN-proposed peace plan, just months before Cyprus joined the EU while the Greek Cypriots rejected it.

Meanwhile, the UN announced on Wednesday that its high representative Ibrahim Gambari, the under-secretary general for political affairs, would carry out a diplomatic mission to Greece, Turkey, and Cyprus early next month, in a bid to see the prospects of resuming peace talks in the region.