• by IPS Correspondents (brussels)
• Thursday, December 15, 1994
• Inter Press Service

BRUSSELS, Dic 15 (IPS) - The European Union (EU) and the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania Thursday began talks in Brussels aimed at securing their entry into the Union.

EU External Trade Commissioner Leon Brittan said "the future membership of the Baltic states...would promote security and political stability in the whole of Europe". The EU has a "moral, political, economic and strategic obligation to get the three Baltic states on board", he added.

"Europe is not a private club. It is open for everyone. The Treaty of Rome clearly spelled out Europe's policy, which is to bring all European nations together."

The EU has already concluded Association Agreements with six former communist countries -- Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. These agreements cover a range of areas including trade liberalisation, political dialogue, economic cooperation and financial assistance.

But under the same accord, fundamental restrictions on agriculture remain with the EU reserving the right to impose contingent protection against sudden surges in imports.

"We are now in the same wagon as the six central and eastern European countries in trying to get into Brussels," Estonian Foreign Minister Juri Luik told reporters after talks with Brittan and Hans-Friedrich von Ploetz, who represented the German presidency of the EU.

Germany will hand over the rotating presidency to France in the new year.

"We think we can offer the EU our specific experience with CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries. We know how they think and act," said Lithuanian Foreign Minister Povilas Gylys.

Latvian Foreign Minister Valdis Birkavs is hopeful the negotiations will be completed next year, but it may be a long way yet before the former Soviet states actually become EU members.

"It depends on the economic progress in those countries and it also depends on the result of the Intergovernmental Conference in 1997 when the Maastricht Treaty will be reviewed," he said.

Gylys said the Baltic states "are eager to contribute to the diversity of the European family. We will travel to Brussels on the highway, in our own individual cars and our success will depend on our motivation and determination to get there".

This weeks's talks follow last weekend's biannual summit in Essen, Germany, where agreement was reached on future EU enlargement on the eastern European front.

© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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