Bulgaria and Romania will be masking any irritation they feel at yesterday's finding by the European commission that they still have some ground to cover before joining the EU on January 1 2007, the Guardian said in the Comment is Free blog.

The article calls Brussels' warning that Bucharest and Sofia must reach agreed benchmarks on judicial reform, corruption, food safety and their ability to administer billions of euros in EU aid - or face the withholding of subsidies and other payments - predictable and harsh but correct.

"But the significance of the report lies not so much in the detail of what it says about the latest ex-Communist candidates but how it reflects feelings about the state of the union - and not just among rabble-rousing europhobes."

The Guardian points out that Barroso's signal that the fifth enlargement since 1957 might have to be the last for a long time spells anxiety for Croatia, which had hoped to follow its fellow former-Yugoslav republic Slovenia, to join in 2009. Turkey, which finally began years of membership negotiations last October but labours under the impediments of size, poverty and strong anti-Muslim prejudice, has even more reason to be concerned.

The Guardian says it will be up to Germany's Angela Merkel, taking over the rotating presidency in January, to re-launch the search for a rule-book that can prevent gridlock and allow Europe to punch at its weight.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!