The government of Sweden "is favourable to the continuation of the expansion process" and to the entry of Turkey into the European Union. The position of the Scandinavian country was expressed today in Strasbourg before the European parliament by Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, within a debate on the future of the European Union. The prime minister explained that the expansion of the community borders was "one of the great successes in the last few years", to "extend the area of democracy and of rights in Europe". Therefore, there is the need to strengthen cooperation with all the Balkan countries and with Turkey. As for the Baltic area, Reinfeldt recalled that "one fourth of the European population lives in this region", and that it is necessary to tackle the problems linked with environment defence "within a community framework". The speaker faced several problems linked with the future of integration; he said to be "really worried" about the situation in Russia, owing to the risk of an involution taking the country far from the Continent’s democratic standards; he insisted on the subjects of security, immigration and terrorism fighting. Sweden "should ratify the Treaty of Lisbon next autumn", promised Reinfeldt, and during its EU presidency, in 2009, "it will face the reformation of the EU balance sheet". ” ” ” “
