World Bulletin/News Desk

The President of the European Council said on Saturday, "This week we reopened negotiations with Turkey. A good thing indeed."

Rompuy delivered his  "Europe Speech" at an event organized by the Konrad Adenauer and Robert Bosch Foundation at the German capital of Berlin.

Rompuy said that the successive enlargements brought Europe’s political and geographic identities closer together, adding "The large majority of countries on our continent is now within the Union." He pointed out that it's unable to define where the EU's final borders will lie.

The future of the Balkans would lie in the European Union Rompuy reminded, and said "After Croatia, our most recent member, others will follow if they meet the criteria – it is their manifest destiny."

He underlined that populism and nationalism cannot provide answers to the challenges of our times and noted, "Politicians must set out clearly what is at stake. They also have to speak out loudly their European convictions."