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EU
confident on expansion as candidates mull finance package
AFP
- Copenhagen
The
European Union voiced confidence that it would wrap up talks with
candidate states on its bold expansion eastwards by the end of the
year although delicate negotiations still lay ahead. The Danish
prime minister Mr Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the meeting with the
10 candidate countries put the European Union firmly on track to
issue invitations to the hopefuls from eastern Europe and the Mediterranean
at a summit in December.
“For
45 years, Europe was a divided continent. In 45 days, we can finally
close this dark chapter in European history,” he told reporters.
He said a US$ 42 billion package enlargement financing package wrapped
by the European Union after two days of wrangling at a summit in
Brussels last week removed a key hurdle but that the EU and candidates
still have weeks of tough negotiations ahead before December. “There
are some tough nuts to crack,” he added.
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