Crisis talks resuming on Turkey's EU entry
European Union foreign ministers failed to persuade Austria to drop its objections to Turkey's bid to join the union, and crisis talks that went into the early-morning hours today were set to resume later this morning, diplomats said. The EU had long planned to start entry talks with the predominantly Muslim Turkey today, the fulfillment of a promise first made as far back as 1963. But Austria has refused to agree to the EU's negotiating mandate, putting the talks on hold and the 25-member bloc into crisis. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey warned yesterday that rejection at this stage would harm ''a project for the alliance of civilizations." He said he hoped European leaders would ''show political maturity and become a global power, or it will end up a Christian club." Austria has suggested a ''privileged partnership" for Turkey rather than full membership. But the draft negotiating mandate calls for full membership, with no mention of a lesser partnership, and Turkey has promised to reject Austria's alternative. (AP)
germany
Conservatives gain a seat in Parliament
DRESDEN -- Conservative challenger Angela Merkel's party gained a seat yesterday in the last remaining district in parliamentary balloting, boosting her chances of becoming Germany's first female chancellor and giving the party extra momentum in coalition talks to form a new government. With all 260 electoral districts reporting, Andreas Laemmel from Merkel's Christian Democrats won the contest for a seat in Dresden with 37 percent of the vote. He defeated Marlies Volkmer from Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's party, who had 32.1 percent. While the outcome of the Dresden vote does not significantly alter the results of the Sept. 18 election, the strength of an extra seat in Parliament is expected to give the conservatives a psychological advantage heading into coalition talks, which have been stalled because both Merkel and Schroeder claim a mandate to be chancellor. (AP)
Benedict was target of Stasi, paper says
BERLIN -- The former East German secret service considered Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, one of the most dangerous critics of communism and spied on him starting in 1974, a leading weekly reported yesterday. The Bild am Sonntag released excerpts of vast files indicating that the secret police, or Stasi, closely watched Ratzinger for years, collecting biographical details, information from spies, and expectations of his next moves. Ratzinger's friendship with Polish-born Pope John Paul II was viewed by the Stasi as particularly dangerous. The East Germans feared that the Bavarian-born Ratzinger, whom they regarded as ''one of the strongest critics of communism in the Vatican" would ''increasingly have influence over the anti-communist bias of the Roman Catholic Church, particularly in Latin America," according to excerpts printed by the paper. (AP)
afghanistan
Election panel probing voting irregularities
KABUL -- Ballot boxes from hundreds of polling stations in Afghanistan's landmark parliamentary elections have been quarantined because of suspected vote fraud, but the overall credibility of the results was not in doubt, the chief electoral officer said yesterday. Peter Erben said the joint UN-Afghan election body was reviewing the reported irregularities and will announce ''tough action" later this week on whether to exclude ballot boxes from the vote count. But Erben said the reports of fraud were localized and would not undermine the credibility of the Sept. 18 election, seen as a key step in Afghanistan's transition to democracy after two decades of war and civil strife. In all, about 4 percent of ballot boxes have been quarantined. ''I do not find the irregularities alarming, but it should give us concern," Erben said at a news conference. On Friday, European Union election observers reported ''worrying cases of fraud," including ballot stuffing, proxy voting, and possible intimidation of voters. (AP)
