BRUSSELS, Sept 29: Austria blocked European Union agreement on Thursday on a mandate to start entry negotiations with Turkey next week, forcing EU foreign ministers to call an emergency meeting for the eve of the talks to seek a deal.

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said it was possible negotiations might not start on Monday as scheduled, although intense efforts were continuing to solve what he called serious problems.

A 24-1 deadlock at a meeting of EU ambassadors means the vast, poor, overwhelmingly Muslim candidate country will be kept on tenterhooks until hours before Mr Gul is due to fly to Luxembourg to open the talks.

Diplomats said Austria stuck to its demand that Turkey be offered an explicit alternative to full membership if it failed to meet the criteria for membership or if the EU was unable to absorb it — something Ankara vehemently rejects.

Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel also insisted in newspaper interviews that the EU open talks immediately with Croatia, Austria’s historic ally and Roman Catholic neighbour.

Those negotiations were due to have started in March, but have been frozen because of Zagreb’s failure so far to satisfy a UN war crimes tribunal of its cooperation.

“We are facing serious problems with the start of negotiations. We are in intense negotiations,” Mr Gul told a hastily arranged news conference in Ankara.

Asked if there was a possibility that talks would not begin, Mr Gul said: “Undoubtedly there is but there are intense efforts ... We still have time to solve the problems.”

He said he would not go to Luxembourg until there was clarity on the negotiating mandate.

A spokesman for EU president Britain said foreign ministers would meet on Turkey on Sunday evening. He rejected any linkage with Croatia’s candidacy, which he said would only be discussed on Monday.—Reuters