ZAGREB, 08/04/06 - European Affairs State Secretary Atzo Nicolai has rejected a recent idea of the Christian democrats (CDA) of offering Balkan countries no more than an EU partnership status. Premier Jan Peter Balkenende and Foreign Minister Ben Bot share his criticisms, suggested Nicolai.

A CDA working party recently proposed offering candidate membership of the EU to no more countries at all. Countries such as Bosnia, Serbia-Montenegro and Albania should only be offered a partnership, though this would go further than current association treaties. The CDA discussion piece was supported by CDA parliamentary leader Verhagen, party chairman Van Bijsterveldt and MEP Eurlings. Christian democrats in the European Parliament have made similar proposals.

Nicolai, a conservative (VVD) member, however terms the CDA proposal "a bad idea and the wrong signal. It is filling holes with holes," he said from Zagreb, where he was on a visit to Croatia. "It results in unclearness for citizens in the Netherlands and for countries which already have prospects of accession. There would also be an unacceptable reneging on agreements. It is playing on 'underbelly fear' of enlargement of the EU in the wrong way."

Nicolai regularly makes statements that turn out not to be exactly the government's position. But to the question of whether he was speaking for the cabinet, he replied: "I do not say this as a resident of Amstelveen," where he lives. Balkenende and Bot are both CDA members.

Nicolai was making a visit last week to Bosnia, Serbia-Montenegro, Albania, Croatia and Macedonia. On Thursday, he claimed he was the party pooper at an "enlargement celebration" in the Croatian capital of Zagreb. "I said that countries wanting to join must demonstrate this point by point and that we continue to look critically at every enlargement. This made me the messenger bearing the bad news."

At the same time, Nicolai did say in his Zagreb speech that the EU must offer "full membership or nothing at all." The full speech in English is available at the Foreign Ministry website (www.minbuza.nl).