BRUSSELS, Sept 21: The European Union formally agreed a hotly-contested declaration on Turkey on Wednesday, a spokesman said, voicing confidence that entry talks will start with Ankara on October 3 despite a lingering problem.

The declaration, held up on Tuesday by last-minute objections from Cyprus, was formally approved by a special inter-governmental procedure following new talks among EU ambassadors in Brussels.

“I’m fully confident negotiations will begin on October 3,” said a spokesman for the EU’s British presidency.

The spokesman confirmed that progress had been made on the so-called ‘negotiating framework’ for the talks, and that only an ‘isolated’ Austria now objects to a formula establishing the principles and logistics of the talks.

Austria has long been sceptical of Turkey’s EU bid, and has demanded that the bloc explicitly offers Ankara an alternative to full EU membership, such as a ‘privileged partnership’, as the goal of the negotiations.

“Cyprus and Greece have lifted their reservations. That means that we really only have problems now with Austria,” said the British spokesman.

He said EU ambassadors aim to come back to the issue again in their next regular talks next Wednesday. In the meantime talks will continue to try to overcome Vienna’s reservations. —AFP