COPENHAGEN, Dec 12: European Union leaders started a landmark summit on Thursday which is expected to finalize the bloc’s historic eastward expansion and set a date for talks on Turkey’s future membership of the bloc.

EU leaders face a complex web of unresolved financial issues linked to the entry in 2004 of Cyprus and Malta as well as 80 central and east European countries. Disputes focus on a 40 billion euro aid package for the newcomers which the EU says is as far as it can go but most of the 10 applicants have described as unacceptable.

In an eleventh-hour appeal to candidates, Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said it was time to compromise.

“Accept the packages — they are as far as we can go,” said Rasmussen whose country’s holds the EU’s rotating presidency.

EU leaders are also under pressure to set a firm date for opening membership talks with Turkey, a country which put in its entry bid in 1987 but was only formally recognized as an EU candidate in 1999.

Diplomats said there was EU consensus around a Franco-German plan which would start negotiations in mid-2005 — but only if Turkey is seen to be living up to EU political standards. Ankara rejects this and is demanding that talks start next year.

“Turkey can get a date if and when Turkey fulfils the criteria,” Rasmussen said ahead of the summit. Britain, Greece, Spain, Belgium and Italy are leading demands for an early start to Turkey’s accession talks but several EU countries remain worried at the EU entry of an Islamic nation, albeit one with a secular constitution.

Adding weight to Turkey’s demands, however, is US President George W. Bush who phoned Rasmussen on Wednesday to stress Washington’s desire for a “strong and positive signal” to Ankara from the EU summit. Washington views Turkey as a key strategic ally in the Middle East, especially in the event of a war with Iraq.

Turkey’s status is also linked to what happens to EU candidate Cyprus. Negotiations are underway in Copenhagen on a United Nations plan to reunite the island.

The 10 states expected to get invitations to join in May 2004 are: Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia.