SOFIA, Aug 13 (AFP) - German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on Friday called on better-off new members of the European Union to help poorer newcomers in order to take economic pressure off the rest of the European Union.
"The most advanced among the new members must show solidarity," he said.
"The capacity of older members will otherwise be overstretched," Schroeder warned during a visit to the Bulgarian capital Sofia to attend a Bulgarian-German economic forum.
On May 1 Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia increased the number of EU member-countries from 15 to 25.
According to 2001 statistics, Cyprus and Slovenia were best-off among the new members in terms of gross domestic product per inhabitant, followed by the Czech Republic and Hungary. The three Baltic republics came last.
Schroeder said he was sure the EU would be able to complete negotiations later this year on Bulgarian membership and sign a membership accord with Sofia at the beginning of next year.
Schroeder came here from a visit to Romania, another former east bloc country seeking EU membership.
"Further efforts are necessary," Schroeder said of Romania's preparedness for membership.
He told the opening of the economic forum Romania might able to join the EU together with Bulgaria in 2007. "I think we will be able to respect the date for both," he said.
Noting that Germany was the main economic partner of most central and eastern European countries, Schroeder also made clear his belief that the development of these countries was in Germany's own economic interest.
Germany is Bulgaria's main business partner and its second largest foreign investor after Greece.
During Schroeder's visit the two countries signed a deal for the German-US automotive group DaimlerChrysler to supply Bulgaria with 112 military vehicles as part of the modernisation of the Bulgarian armed forces.