Austria Blocks Turkey's Road to Eu Membership

Turkey will today face a new setback to its EU ambition when Austria declares that it is wrong to open membership talks with Ankara while blocking Austria's near neighbour - and fellow Christian country - Croatia.

At a meeting of EU ambassadors in Brussels, Austria is likely to succeed in convening an emergency meeting of foreign ministers days before the start of Turkey's EU membership talks on October 3. The timing of the Austrian intervention is significant. A taskforce of EU ministers, including Jack Straw and the putative EU foreign minister Javier Solana, is expected to pronounce on Croatia a few days before the emergency meeting on 26 September.

Membership talks with Croatia were due to open in the spring. But they were called off after ministers ruled that Zagreb was failing to do enough to hand over an indicted war criminal, Ante Gotovina, to the international war crimes tribunal.

Carla del Ponte, the court's chief prosecutor, who has been critical of Zagreb, is expected to rule on whether Croatia has been more cooperative in recent months.

Under the rules governing its EU membership talks Croatia merely has to show it is offering full cooperation with the Hague in its attempts to track down Gotovina.

A green light for Croatia would raise the possibility of a symbolic start to EU membership talks for a Muslim and a Catholic country at virtually the same time. One EU diplomat said: "If you start talks with Turkey and not Croatia that is very difficult. The Austrians make an interesting case. Croatia has improved. The big question, to which we do not yet know the answer, is whether it is enough."

Austria is punching above its normal weight after joining forces with Turkey's greatest foe - the Greek Cypriot government. Cyprus wants a meeting of foreign ministers to demand assurances that Turkey will recognise it as the legitimate government of the divided island.