Bot Lavishes Praise on Turkey; Fischler has Doubts

Bot told Reuters news agency that if the EU Commission gives the green light for Turkey to begin full membership discussions, it would be a "blow to discrimination."

On the other side, The UK’s Financial Times writes that EU Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler sent a memo to the other commissioners regarding his concerns about the impact of Turkey’s membership.

"Fischler expressed his worries about Turkey’s democratic criteria and religious identity to the member countries," discloses the Times. "He also reportedly believed that the accession of Turkey to the EU would place a greater burden on the budget."

Fischler defends that Turkey’s EU membership will add an annual burden of 11.3 billion euros to the EU’s budget. The EU Commission issued a statement that said the memo referenced by the Times was written in June and was part of the EU’s internal correspondence.