Romanian President Traian Basescu said that the European Union (EU) should send positive signals to Turkey over its membership bid, stressing that the candidate could significantly enlarge the bloc's neighborhood, which would include the Middle East and North Africa, Turkish newspaper Today's Zaman reported Sunday on its website.

The "EU needs Turkey as much as Turkey needs the EU," Basescu was quoted by Today's Zaman as saying before his state visit to Turkey on Monday.

Romania strongly supports Turkey's EU membership bid, said the president. "In (our) relations with our European colleagues, we continue to advocate the need for the EU to send more positive signals to Turkey."

Turkey's accession negotiations with EU practically hated to make any progress due to its tensions with EU member Cyprus as well as opposition from France, Germany and Austria.

The negotiations started in 2005 but have only been open on 13 of the 35 chapters that must be covered. Moreover, the EU has suspended talks on eight chapters due to Turkey's refusal to open its ports and airports to traffic from Cyprus.

"Turkey brings an important contribution and is an important actor in the union's wider neighborhood, playing an active role in this year's events in the Middle East and Northern Africa," Basescu said.

The president also welcomed the recently-endorsed EU proposal that calls for expedited negotiation process with Turkey in areas of common interest.

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