PARIS, Nov 20: France has officially expressed its doubts as to whether Turkey should be admitted as a new member of the European Union on May 1, 2004.

According to a statement issued here on Tuesday by the official spokesman of the French Foreign Ministry, negotiations with Turkey regarding its admission to the EU “can begin” only once the country meets criteria set forth at Copenhagen — notably with regard to its respect of “democratic liberties” as well as of human rights.

Once it can guarantee that those rights are and will be respected, said the spokesman, the negotiations process can commence.

The statement comes in the wake of a surprise declaration made earlier by former French president Valery Giscard d’Estaing, who is also president of the commission presently drafting a constitution for the new 25-member EU, who stated that he was adamantly opposed to inclusion of Turkey in the new European Union, and how, as president of the European convention, the organism presently drafting a constitution for Europe, he felt it was not in the interest of the EU to have Turkey as a member.

French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin, he thinks, for his part, that the EU should perhaps start thinking more about turning its attention towards the southern hemisphere, Africa.