Turkey blocks Nato-EU deal

Turkey's Ismail Cem refused to back down

Turkey has blocked Nato from concluding a basic agreement on its future co-operation with a European Union rapid reaction force.

Ankara is insisting that Nato cannot give the EU assured access to alliance military planning, but that this should only be offered on a case-by-case basis.

Even the personal intervention of outgoing US President Bill Clinton failed to broker a deal.

The Turkish Government fears that the EU force could become involved in areas where Turkey has interests, such as Cyprus or the Balkans.

I don't see this, and never did, as a make or break situation

US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright

Ankara wants the European force to have access to Nato planning institutions only on a case-by-case basis.

Speaking as the two-day meeting of Nato foreign ministers wound up in Brussels, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said efforts to conclude a deal would continue.

"It is an ongoing process, in the end it is Turkey that needs to be satisfied and for the moment they are not, but we are a lot nearer that long term goal," she said.

Analysts say that if this problem cannot be resolved, there can be little progress on other contentious issues which face the EU.

Albright: failed to persuade

Outgoing US President Clinton is understood to have offered Turkey bilateral consultations with Washington whenever Ankara had concerns about Nato co-operation with the EU.

However, Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem was apparently unmoved.

Speaking on Friday he said, "We can in no way accept it," adding that "Nato cannot allow discrimination among its members."

Keystone agreement

US officials have described the guarantee of access as the "keystone" of an agreement that would last well into the future with no uncertainties about its implications.

Unless Nato can tie up the basic foundation of an accord with the EU, allies fear the project could loose momentum and drift into the next year, leaving the Bush administration with a bundle of loose ends.

The next scheduled Nato meeting is in May, by which time the allies hope to have all of the details allowing the EU to use Nato capabilities hammered out.

Nato is concerned that if it cannot offer assured access to planning, the EU may feel obliged to create its own mini-Nato, decoupling the EU from the Atlantic alliance.