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EU's Solana predicts last-minute deal on Turkey
BERLIN, Oct 1 (Reuters) - EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana predicted in a newspaper interview that a last-minute deal would be reached to resolve a dispute over Turkey's relationship with the bloc before entry talks start on Monday. Solana told Germany's Bild am Sonntag paper he was confident the stalemate arising from Austria's demand that the European Union offer Turkey an explicit alternative to full membership would not thwart an opening ceremony planned for Monday. "I assume that we will succeed in reaching an agreement," Solana was quoted as saying in a text of the interview released on Saturday ahead of Sunday's publication. "Decisions that involve Turkey were always reached at the last minute in the past." EU foreign ministers, meeting in emergency session in Luxembourg on Sunday night, must agree a negotiating mandate in time for the poor, populous Muslim nation to begin long-awaited accession talks less than 24 hours later. EU president Britain said it was determined to clinch an agreement on Sunday. It issued an optimistic timetable for ratifying the mandate on Sunday evening and holding the opening ceremony at 5 p.m. (1500 GMT) on Monday. But there is little sign of any change in Austria's view ahead of regional elections in Styria province on Sunday. Some 80 percent of Austrian voters oppose Turkish membership and EU diplomats
say the vote may be a key factor in Vienna's tough stance.
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