Turkey Blocks Deal on New Eu Rapid Reaction Force

European Union leaders have dealt with Greek opposition to plans to deploy their rapid reaction force, only to face a thorny new problem - fresh objections from Turkey.

Weeks of frantic diplomacy seemed on the verge of bearing fruit at the EU's weekend summit in Seville when the Greek prime minister, Costas Simitis, made clear under pressure from colleagues that he was ready to accept arrangements to allow the force's launch.

Greece, where Mr Simitis is facing elections, had raised objections to the EU's laboriously negotiated agreement with the Turks, who had sought guarantees that the EU force would never be used in the Aegean or Cyprus - a long-standing focus of tension between the two countries.

Turkey, a Nato member, had demanded the guarantees in return for agreeing that the 60,000-strong EU force could use Nato assets and equipment for its humanitarian and peacekeeping tasks.

But once both Turkish and Greek concerns had been overcome, a new obstacle appeared - Ankara expressed its unhappiness with assurances given to Greece and said it would not accept any changes to its own earlier deal with the EU.

The Turkish objections effectively rule out a long-planned European takeover of the Nato-led peacekeeping mission in Macedonia in the autumn. This should have been the first test of the EU's ability to shoulder even modest defence tasks in the face of growing US impatience with its under-performing allies.

This latest spat came at an awkward moment: the EU's often fractious relations with Turkey had been looking better as the Spanish summit signalled that Ankara's longstanding hopes of joining the club were not as remote as they often seem.

Seville hinted at "new decisions" on the next stage of Turkey's candidature at the Copenhagen summit in December. Turkey would like the EU to set a date for full membership talks by the end of this year. The EU says Turkey must fulfil criteria on human rights and democracy before a date can be set.

The problem over the rapid reaction force is compounded by the fact that Greece will be running EU defence and security matters from July 1, because Denmark, which assumes the union's rotating presidency on that date, has opted out of that area of policy making. Greece is next in line for the presidency.