Schröder denies "conditional yes"reporst

Stressing that Germany supports Turkey’s unconditional EU membership, Schroeder said that reporters had distorted his actual statements. “A conditional yes for Turkey isn’t even on the EU’s agenda,” added the chancellor.

Schroeder yesterday held a press conference with Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, where the two leaders stated that although a ‘conditional yes’ was out of the question, setting a date in December for Turkey’s EU membership talks would not mean that membership was guaranteed. The Netherlands holds the EU’s Term Presidency through the end of December.