The European Union told its Balkan neighbors and Turkey Saturday that they remain on track for membership of the 27-nation bloc despite delays caused by troubled internal reforms. Several EU ministers said the bloc must continue with its post Cold War expansion that brought 10 new nations into the bloc in 2004 to create a single market of half a billion people, Associated Press reported. «Enlargement is in the interest of Europe and in the interest of the Balkans,» British Foreign Secretary David Miliband told reporters before talks between EU ministers and their counterparts from candidates Croatia, Turkey and Macedonia along with four other Western Balkan nations. He said the EU has become stronger in recent years through its growth _ although problems to persuade EU voters to back fundamental changes to the way the bloc operates has stalled further expansion. «The basic message» to the Balkan nations and Turkey is that their membership prospects remain on track, said Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb before the meeting at a Czech castle in the town of Hluboka. He added the introduction in 2004 of Cyprus, Malta and eight East European nations «was the best thing that has happened» to the bloc.
