In an article titled "Chirac and Merkel unite over Turkey's EU bid," The Financial Times (FT) wrote that Chirac, in a meeting with Merkel today, will back her proposal effectively setting a new 18-month deadline for Turkey to open its ports to Greek Cypriot traffic.

Speaking to FT, a French official said, "both Berlin and Paris believe such a deadline is necessary to maintain pressure on Turkey."

"Germany and France will tomorrow demand tougher conditions for Turkey's troubled European Union membership bid, in a move likely to cause new divisions over Ankara at next week's EU summit," the newspaper wrote.

"Such a deadline was not included in the European Commission's proposal last week but both Berlin and Paris believe such a deadline is necessary to maintain pressure on Turkey," the article continued.

"France and Germany are on the same page with regard to Turkey," a French official speaking to the newspaper said.

The Financial Times emphasized a Franco-German axis could unify some EU countries, including Portugal, Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration, though Britain and some Scandinavian countries oppose setting new deadlines for Ankara.