Spain hopes to speed up Turkey's EU talks

Spain, which has assumed the rotating EU presidency, hopes to speed up Turkey's passage toward European Union membership, Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said Friday.

He said he hoped to open talks on another four of the 35 policy chapters that all EU candidate nations must successfully negotiate prior to membership.

Madrid has long backed Turkey's entry into the EU, a move opposed by heavyweights like France and Germany, which have proposed a "privileged partnership" between the bloc and the mainly Muslim country rather than full EU membership.

"We have four chapters in mind, and we hope to open them," Moratinos told reporters in Madrid.

The biggest hurdle to Turkey's EU membership is its lack of relations with Greek Cyprus.

Eight chapters remain totally blocked due to Ankara's failure to open its borders to EU-member Greek Cyprus.

Greek Cyprus itself has reserved the right to block six others.

The island of Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey intervened in response to an Athens-engineered coup in Nicosia aimed at uniting the island with Greece.

"We are trying to get some progress in the talks" on Cyprus, said Moratinos.

"We know it's a very tricky issue, but I hope the negotiations about the future of the island will present some results, some openings," he added.

Spain will hold the EU presidency for the first six months of this year, making Moratinos' plan seem at least ambitious.

All the negotiators in the Cyprus talks, including Turkey and Greece, "are aware of the timing factor," Moratinos stressed, referring to elections to be hold in April in the island's Turkish north, when partisan hardliners could win the day.

Last month, Turkish Cypriot President Mehmet Ali Talat and his Greek counterpart Dimitris Christofias agreed to intensify the United Nations-led peace process in efforts to reunify the long-divided island this year.

Source:hurriyetdailynews.com/

Spain favors Belgrade-Priština dialogue

BELGRADE -- Spain and many of its EU partners want for Belgrade and Priština to enter a dialogue, says Spanish Ambassador to Serbia Inigo de Palacio Espana.


A file photo of Ambassador Espana attending a news conference in Belgrade (Beta)


That would lead to a joint solution that could be realized in real life, he told Belgrade daily Blic in an interview.

Espana, whose country took over the EU Presidency on January 1, said that he thought that Serbia could obtain the EU candidate status without the Kosovo-Metohija issue being fully resolved, particularly since Spain had not recognized the unilaterally declared independence of the province.

The Spanish ambassador expressed his support to Belgrade's idea to open a dialogue with Priština after the completion of the process before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague on the legality of the unilateral secession declaration of the interim institutions of Kosovo on February 17, 2008.

"Minister [Vuk] Jeremić put forward a very important idea at the Ambassadors' Conference when he said that after the court's opinion had been stated, a compromise, sustainable solution could be found through dialogue, that could lead to a further development of relations," Espana said.

In view of Serbia's EU accession process, he stated that, with its last moves at the end of 2009, the official Belgrade showed that it cooperated with the Hague Tribunal, adding that big steps had been made.

"We believe that Serbia fully cooperates with the Tribunal and that it may not be capable to arrest the remaining fugitives," De said.

"If Serbia continues to cooperate with the Hague Tribunal, there will be no arguments against the ratification of the Stabilization and Association Agreement in June," the amabassador underscored.

Source:b92.net/

Spanish federation extends Del Bosque's stay

Madrid - The Spanish football federation said on Wednesday that national team manager Vicente del Bosque had agreed to extend his contract until 2012.

"The rule of the house has always been that the contract of the national manager is extended after qualifying for the World Cup finals, whatever happens in the tournament," said Angel Maria Villar, the president of the federation at its annual Christmas dinner with the media.

Villar added that "Del Bosque has managed to take our team to the highest place (in the Fifa rankings), and has known how to handle the rich inheritance that he received".

Villar continued his after-dinner speech by saying that 2009 had been a "spectacular year" because of the centenary of the federation, and because of the results obtained.

"We have qualified for the World Cup finals brilliantly, we are the leaders in the world rankings and we have won every match except against the United States (a 2-0 loss in the semi-finals of the Confederations Cup)."

With regard to Spain's prospects at the World Cup, Villar said that "there is a lot of hope, we have a great team".

"But words are one thing and actions another thing. We will go with illusion, enjoying the fact that millions of Spaniards want us to be the champions of the world."

Villar finished by wishing Del Bosque a happy birthday. He is 59 on Wednesday.

Del Bosque, ever calm and composed, has done even better in charge of "La Seleccion" than even his closest friends and supporters hoped.

He took over in July 2008 just after Spain had elegantly won the European Championship in Vienna, when the explosive Luis Aragones - annoyed at Villar not offering him a contract extension earlier - signed for Turkish giants Fenerbahce.

Del Bosque has wisely kept faith with the little ball players - men like Xavi, Andres Iniesta, David Silva and David Villa - who took Europe by storm in 2008, and has gradually added to the mix ambitious youngsters like Gerard Pique, Jesus Navas, Alvaro Negredo and Fernando Llorente.

He became the first national manager to win every single match in one of the European six-team World Cup qualifying groups - and can now prepare for South Africa safe in the knowledge that he will be staying in the job until 2012. - Sapa-DPA

Source:iol.co.za/