VIENNA, Feb 12 (AFP) - Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel has reiterated his opposition to full Turkish membership in the European Union, pointing to adhesion costs estimated at between 25 billion and 30 billion euros a year.
"Who should pay that?" he asked the economic magazine Trend in an interview to appear Tuesday, stressing that the financing of enlargement to include Turkey should be discussed in Brussels, where European Union foreign ministers Monday kicked off a week of high-stakes negotiations on Ankara's bid for EU membership.
Schuessel said current member states "cannot even agree on whether the EU budget should represent 1.1 percent or 1.2 percent of gross national product (GNP)".
The Austrian leader also said human rights was "another obstacle to membership" for mainly Muslim Turkey.
Austrians are the most hostile among EU nations to full membership for Turkey, with only 28 percent in favor, according to a recent poll.
Schuessel said however that "we must open the doors" for a partnership, instead of "letting Turkey die of hunger on our doorstep."
Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik also called for caution, saying a privileged EU-Turkey relationship would be an alternative "that would satisfy everyone."
Plassnik, who was speaking over Austrian radio, is taking part in the Brussels meeting, where foreign ministers are paving the way for a three-day summit.
12/13/2004 14:35 GMT - AFP