PARIS -- Although a wedding date has yet to be set between the European Union and Turkey, the two parties managed to conclude what several participants at the Dec. 17 European summit have called a formal "engagement."
Such an outcome had long looked doubtful because a majority of the public in EU countries that have a large number of Turkish workers oppose Turkish membership in the EU.
In Germany, 55 percent are opposed; in Austria, 62 percent; and in France, 67 percent. Such opposition has increased following the murder of a popular filmmaker by a Muslim immigrant in the Netherlands. In addition, the EU now has 25 members, making it all the more difficult to attain the unanimous approval required for Turkey to join the union.