The EU Commission released on Wednesday its progress reports for the planned enlargement of the Union.

According to the reports the violation of human rights continues to hamper on Turkey’s accession. Membership talks with Croatia may be concluded in 2010, the reports state, although according to EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn the country must still do more to strengthen its judiciary. Accession negotiations with Macedonia are also in the offing.

Jyllands-Posten – Denmark

The daily Jyllands-Posten sees little new in the EU’s progress report concerning Turkey’s accession, saying that the same issues arise again and again:

“It’s understandable and correct that the EU insist on its demands for more democracy: a Turkey where the rights of women, minorities and children are fortified, where there are better conditions for freedom of opinion, where the role of the military is restricted and where relations with the Kurds and Cypriots are normalised. But it would also make sense for the EU, and in particular Germany and France, to realise that in addition to the normal requirements for countries applying for membership for Turkey in particular there are also relevant and overriding issues in the areas of security and energy that could be of great importance for Europe.” (15/10/2009)

Süddeutsche Zeitung – Germany

“The accession process will take another 15 to 20 years,” writes Kai Strittmatter in the left-liberal daily Süddeutsche Zeitung on the new EU Progress Report on Turkey:

“In 15 years Turkey will not be the Turkey it is today. It will grow far faster economically than all other EU countries. And we may be confident in the steps it is taking toward true democracy. That the country is ’structurally unfit for accession’ as a member of the [conservative] CDU said on Wednesday, is nonsense. At the same time, a positive outcome of the EU talks is anything but in the bag. The old, undemocratic elite no longer has the power to shape the army, the bureaucracy or the judiciary – but it still has the power to sabotage. Prime Minister [Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan and the Turkish democrats need all the help they can get, and Europe must not withhold its support.” (15/10/2009)

Il Sole 24 Ore – Italy

The EU has lost all enthusiasm for further enlargement, the business daily Il Sole 24 Ore writes:

“The Hamlet-like doubts about the practicality of opening the door to Turkey, the sluggish progress of the Balkan countries and the devastating financial and economic crisis that has the world in its grip are all factors that have put a damper on the passion for expansion everywhere, even in the northern-most countries of the Union, which have always been eager to extend the domestic borders. And so we move on, but with weary steps. In reality [we're moving] only under duress, because you can’t go back on a promise.” (15/10/2009)

Delo – Slovenia

The progress report makes it clear that the accession candidate Croatia still has much work to do, particularly in fighting corruption and organised crime, writes the daily Delo:

“Croatia no longer faces [Slovenian] blockades and is on its own, only the results count. It won’t be enough for the head of government [Jadranka] Kosor to lead the fight against corruption. If she wants to bring Croatia into the EU by 2012 she’ll have to excise the cancer mercilessly with a scalpel. The problem is that it bears a well-known and unpleasant ‘medical’ name, namely HDZ [Kosor's party, the Croatian Democratic Union founded by former president Franjo Tuđman] and friends. The government may be promising to take action against corruption even at the highest levels, but the citizens of Croatia have already heard many such fairy tales.” (15/10/2009)

Photo:  EU-Erweiterungskommissar Olli Rehn | © 2009 APA/EPA