Turkisk President thanks Latvia and Lithuania for EU integration support

Turkish President Abdullah Gül praised the governments of Baltic nations Latvia and Lithuania on Thursday for their support of Turkey’s bid to join the European Union, saying that they had publicly declared their pro-Turkish membership stance without any hesitation.

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said after talks with Gül on Wednesday that her country believed that Europe and Turkey needed each other and that Turkey’s accession process should not be delayed for too long.

She also said that her country wanted to oversee the opening of talks on one or two negotiating chapters between Turkey and the EU during Lithuania’s presidential term.