Guenter Verheugen, EU Enlargement Commissioner declared after his meeting in Brussels with Bulgaria's Foreign Minister Passy that Bulgaria is the "negotiations champion for the last year." "We opened all EU chapters, today (April 22) will be closed three more, which will lead to seventeen chapters closed in total. This is remarkable success," Verheugen added. However, he didn't say which countries would be able to conclude their negotiations with EU by the end of 2002. Passy said he hoped the EU would soon set a date for Bulgaria's entry into the 15-nation Union. He said his country would continue its efforts to catch up to the frontrunners for EU membership, such as Hungary, Slovenia and Poland. However, he said Bulgaria continued to disagree with the EU over its demands for the closure of aging reactors at the country's Kozloduy nuclear power plant. The EU wants all the reactors shut down by 2006 while Passy said there should be a phased closure up to 2010. France's presidential election shows that the European Union should quickly bring in the new democracies of Eastern Europe to counterbalance the rise of the far right in the West, Bulgaria's foreign minister said. "This is a good lesson for the European Union," Passy said during his visit to the EU headquarters. "The EU needs to invite countries like Bulgaria, countries that are islands of ethnic tolerance."