The start of Turkey’s historic accession talks with the European Union (EU) was in jeopardy yesterday after EU foreign ministers failed to overcome Austrian demands that it be offered an alternative to full membership. EU president Britain said ministers would try again for a deal yesterday morning but acknowledged that the planned 5 p.m. (1500 GMT) opening ceremony was uncertain and could well slip.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said a planned review of Croatia’s progress towards EU entry talks had been postponed and would have to wait until Turkey was sorted out. “It is a frustrating situation, but I hope and pray that we may be able to reach agreement,” Straw told a post-midnight news conference after five hours of tough wrangling with Austria. EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn played down the threat to Turkey’s 42-year-old entry bid, saying: “I am confident we will have a positive outcome and start negotiations tomorrow.”

But a Turkish official said nerves in Ankara were “extremely stretched ... Every minute that passes is making things more bitter and it won’t be nice starting negotiations with all these bruises.” With Austrian voters overwhelmingly hostile to Turkey entry, Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik waged a lone battle demanding that the EU spell out an alternative to full membership, not only in case Turkey did not meet the criteria but also if the EU felt unable to absorb the vast, populous, poor Muslim state.

Diplomats said the 24 other members insisted they could not make any change to the central principle that the shared objective of the negotiations would be accession. “Isolation and pressure is never going to work in politics. It’s not going to work inside the European Union, certainly not. The Union should have and must have a different style,” Plassnik told reporters after three tense meetings with Straw. Asked whether Austria was prepared to veto the start of talks, she said it took all 25 member states to agree.

<B>Possible walk-out</B>

Outgoing German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer warned his colleagues that Turkey might walk away if the EU watered down the terms on offer any further.

“If you want to open negotiations, you have to remember we have to have someone to open them with,” a diplomat quoted him as telling the meeting. The EU has already irked Ankara by demanding that it recognise Cyprus soon and open its ports and airports to traffic from the divided Mediterranean island.

The European Parliament compounded Turkish irritation last week by saying Turkey must recognise the 1915 killings of Armenians under Ottoman rule as an act of genocide before it can join the wealthy European family. Fanning Turkish anxiety, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy cast doubt in a radio interview on whether Turkey would ever join the EU, saying the talks might end in an enhanced partnership instead. Douste-Blazy, who stayed away from Sunday’s meeting and was not due to be present for Monday’s planned start of talks, told Europe 1 radio that Turkey was a long way from having the same values, laws and human rights as the European Union.

“I think it will be very hard for Turkey because we will be asking a lot. We’re asking it to change its laws,” he said. Straw told reporters he did not want to contemplate the possibility of an Austrian veto. “Clearly that would represent a failure for the EU,” he said before the meeting. “This is a crucial meeting for the future of the European Union.” Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul has made clear he will not fly to Luxembourg until he has seen the negotiating mandate approved unanimously by the EU.

EU diplomats had hoped Austria would ease its stance after voting ended in regional elections in Styria province. Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel’s People’s Party lost power there for the first time since 1945 despite his brinkmanship on Turkey. Schuessel has informally linked the Turkish issue to a demand that the EU open accession talks immediately with Austria’s largely Roman Catholic neighbour, Croatia. But those talks have been frozen until Zagreb satisfies UN war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte that it is cooperating fully in the hunt for a fugitive indicted ex-general. In an apparent effort to increase pressure on Austria, Straw postponed a planned meeting with Del Ponte and the Croatian prime minister on Monday until there was agreement on Turkey

<B>Mark JOHN

Zerin ELCI</B>