Herman Van Rompuy has become the first president of Europe. Mr. Rompuy is a hard-line opponent of Turkey’s bid to join the European Union because it is an Islamic country.
Van Rompuy, Belgium’s Prime Minister and a Christian Democrat, has in the past spoken out against Turkish EU membership because, he warned, it would dilute Europe’s Christian heritage. His position on the issue is so strong that he has won the support of Vlaams Belang, the controversial far-right and racist Flemish anti-immigrant party in Belgium.
“Turkey is not a part of Europe and will never be part of Europe. An expansion of the EU to include Turkey cannot be considered as just another expansion as in the past. The universal values which are in force in Europe, and which are fundamental values of Christianity, will lose vigour with the entry of a large Islamic country such as Turkey” he said.
