BRUSSELS: The map of Europe will change forever this week when 10 mostly east European states clinch agreements to join the European Union at a summit in Copenhagen.

Europe’s week of destiny could also be crowned by an outline accord to end the division of Cyprus, a long-delayed green light from NATO for the EU’s faltering defence initiative and a provisional date for Turkey to start EU entry talks.

Despite last-minute haggling over money, the 15-nation EU’s enlargement into former communist Eastern Europe in 2004 looks certain to be sealed at the summit starting on Thursday, extending a zone of prosperity and healing the Cold War divide.

But the outcome on Cyprus and Turkey is far more uncertain and hinges mainly on Ankara’s untried new government.

“We go into a crucial week hopeful that we can create a virtuous circle,” a senior EU diplomat said.

Diplomats are racing to engineer a chain of events in which Turkey would enact more democratic reforms, clear the way for an EU-NATO defence pact it has been holding up, and persuade the Turkish Cypriots to sign up to a peace plan to reunite Cyprus in return for a clear path to EU membership.

Much last-minute drama is in store before the outcome, which officials of the EU’s Danish presidency hope may emerge sometime on Saturday.

Much of the kicking and screaming will focus on Poland’s demands for more money, as Germany, Europe’s paymaster beset by severe budget problems, insists it has gone to the limit.

CYPRUS IN DOUBT: The EU is also insisting Ankara clear the way for Europe to gain assured access to NATO planning and assets for its own military operations before its candidacy moves forward. Turkey has so far withheld support for an EU rapid reaction force.