Griekenland wil bij voorhoede EU horen (en)
Auteur: | By Honor Mahony
Greece wants to be among the avant garde in the newly enlarged EU, the Greek prime minister has said.
In an interview with the Le Monde, Costas Caramanlis said "we want to be among the avant-garde of the European Union through reinforced co-operation".
He added: "Although I am in favour of enlargement, I cannot imagine that in a large Europe, everyone will advance at the same speed. The countries that believe in a strong Europe have to form an avant-garde".
Mr Caramanlis' words come after Greece has been much in the headlines recently. It is hosting the Olympic Games this year and also won the European football championship in July.
Speaking about Turkey's eventual membership of the EU, Mr Caramanlis said the Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government had made a "great effort" to reform.
He said that a "Europeanised Turkey" is in the interests of Turks themselves, of countries neighbouring Turkey and the EU.
The Greek prime minister also said that he did not believe that the situation in the divided island of Cyprus could be an obstacle for opening negotiations with Ankara.