LISBON, Dec 4 (AFP) - The enlarged European Union faces the risk of breaking up, the new head of the European Commission Jose Manuel Durao Barroso warned in an interview published Saturday, adding that he was worried at threats from populist parties on the left and right.
"The challenge which confronts Europe today is not the risk of a federal super-state and the erosion of our national traditions but the possibility of disintegration," he told the weekly Expresso.
"What is difficult is to enable Europe to consolidate without changing its nature with 25 or 27 member states."
Barroso said he was worried "by certain populist parties on the left and the right ... which try to make Europe responsible for the incompetence or inadequacy of a particular country."
He said he would be satisfied if by the end of his term in five years Europe had "made enlargement a success, with a few members more, if it has made progress in meeting world competition and has managed to adopt more coherent and positive stances on the international scene."
Asked about the eventual entry of Turkey into the EU, Barroso said that "Europe cannot be a Christian club."
"Europe must not be ashamed of its Christian origins, but we should give the Muslim world a powerful signal by taking in a Muslim-majority country."
He added, however, that Turkey's entry should not be taken for granted. "We will resolve the problem not by hiding our reservations but debating the matter clearly."
12/04/2004 13:43 GMT - AFP