Bulgaria’s accession to the European Union may be delayed by a year or even blocked if the opposition alliance of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU) comes to power. This was said by an anonymous source at the German parliament. The CDU is preparing to amend 13 points in the accession treaty with Bulgaria and one of its leaders – Bavarian prime minister Edmund Stoiber – is even campaigning against the ratification of the treaty.
The possible fall from power of the government headed by Gerhard Schroeder was seen by yesterday’s German press as good augur for Bulgaria and Romania’s prospects of joining the EU. The floor leader of the conservatives in the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Poetering, has told Handelsblatt that a Christian-Democratic government in Germany would be stricter in monitoring the process of reforms in the two countries. Peter Hinze, a CDU politician, believes that if the French reject the European constitution in the referendum, Bulgaria and Romania’s membership should be postponed. (24 Chassa)