ROME, Oct 6 (AFP) - Italy said on Wednesday that it would work hard to ensure a positive outcome regarding negotiations over Turkey's EU bid at a key meeting of European leaders planned for December.
"I am convinced that we will thereby contribute to keeping a strategic partner like Turkey solidly anchored to Europe," said Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini.
"It is essential that Turkey, in the months preceding the start of negotiations and throughout the process, continues the path of reforms destined to guarantee a functioning market economy and a fully coherent democracy with European values and standards," he said.
The European Commission officially recommended on Wednesday that EU leaders open membership negotiations with Turkey, but it set a series of tough conditions and warned there was no guarantee of a successful outcome.
EU leaders must now decide at their December 17 summit whether to accept the commission's recommendations and if so when to begin negotiations expected to last at least a decade.
"The commission has recognised the progress made by Turkey," Frattini said.