“The ELDR Party has been a long standing supporter of the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the EU on 1st January 2007, provided the two countries fulfilled the necessary requirements. We appreciate all the reforms that have been carried out in both countries, notably under the committed leadership of our liberal partners – Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu and former Prime Minister Simeon Saxe Coburg Gotha. We believe that in their best interests the two countries will continue to prepare well", she stated.

Mrs. Annemie Neyts explained that “the implementation of accompanying measures should not hide the fact that this is a major achievement for both countries and reason for celebration.” She reminded that safeguard clauses had been applied to three of the present member states - Spain, Portugal and Greece.

The ELDR Party will celebrate this important step in European history during its congress in Bucharest on 12-13 October. During this Congress entitled “Working together for a secure and free Europe”, more than 300 Liberal Democrats from all over Europe will discuss Europe’s external and internal security and adopt policies on these issues.

Annemie Neyts expressed the wish that the “general public will be properly informed of the significant progress made by Bulgaria and Romania to join the EU and be made aware of the preparations preceding the enlargement”.

ELDR does not believe that EU enlargement should stop after the accession of Romania and Bulgaria. “We are fully united in honouring commitments that have been made on enlargement to Croatia, the Western Balkan States and Turkey. The current accession negotiations will take years and will leave time for the adaptation of the EU institutions,” Annemie Neyts stated.

ELDR encourages Croatia to speed up its reforms, which should enable her to become a full member of the EU by the end of this decade. Also encouraging Turkey to speed up reforms, ELDR stresses that each country should be judged on its own merits and that the negotiating processes should not be linked.