In other words, NATO membership, like EU membership, comes at a price.

Turkish EU membership presents both opportunities and challenges.

Most Moldovan emigrants work in the EU, and almost 75 of Moldova s population support EU membership.

In this respect, Syria and Iran appreciate Turkey s EU membership process.

Indeed, Erdogan responded positively to Europe s conditions for Turkey s EU membership.

While the EU cannot hold out the prospect of membership, Russia is happy to offer membership in a reconstituted empire.

January 1, 2013, marked 40 years of British membership of the EU.

Of course, EU membership gives these countries a greater sense of security.

2005 2010 Growth continued in the first years of the EU membership.

We are committed to Ukraine s European vocation, but not to its EU membership.

This would hinder negotiations, and could ultimately damage public support for EU membership.

Spain, Portugal, and Greece had to establish functioning democracies before applying for EU membership.

But EU membership has always been about more than economic integration and trade flows.

Thus, they must be guaranteed the kind of solidarity that is fundamental to EU membership.

For Turkey, tensions reflect the lack of progress on the country s application for EU membership.

Surveys indicate that the Irish are strong supporters of EU membership and the integration process.

The United States had been pressing the EU to advance Turkey s application for admission, but Turkish membership was already controversial in several EU countries.

Europe thus ends up losing, and the true benefits of EU membership are not fully realized.

Serbia also must face the fact that EU membership is impossible until the dispute is resolved.

New EU membership applications confirm the desire of Balkan governments to engage seriously in internal reforms.

Turkey also showed its good will over Cyprus, removing a nagging political obstacle to EU membership.

Turkey's human rights record continues to be a significant obstacle to future membership of the EU.

Yet this historical evidence is not enough to unite European sentiment in favor of Turkey s EU membership.

The EU is truly convincing only when it can use the seductive power of a membership card.

In short, EU membership entails having to accept incisive measures that deeply affect a state s internal affairs.

It is a sad fact that a large majority of voters in the EU are against Turkish membership.

The prospect of EU membership for Turkey would also dispel the outdated notion that Europe stands for Christendom.

According to recent polls, 80 of the population supports Poland s membership in the EU the highest in Europe.

Indeed Irish ministers argue that Ireland would have gone the way of Iceland in recent months were it not for EU membership and the protections afforded by euro zone membership.

Ireland has benefited disproportionately from EU largesse during its 35 years of membership, and, in 2008, was still receiving a net sum of 500 million from the EU budget.

Although the Association Agreement does not lead automatically to EU membership, it is an important step in that direction.

But the road to EU membership involves painful sacrifice, so each country should be judged on its own merits.

The EU needs a comprehensive regional approach, focusing on the remaining steps that would lead each country towards membership.

The prospect and reality of EU membership has been a force for stability, prosperity, and democracy across Eastern Europe.

Cameron has said on several occasions that he wishes to avoid a referendum revolving around the simple choice of continued EU membership on the basis of the current terms of membership.

Greek Cypriots are using their European Union membership as a weapon to frustrate Turkey s EU ambitions and to block attempts to increase trade between the EU and the island s north.

Most notably, the United Kingdom is seeking to renegotiate the terms of its EU membership, with a referendum on the outcome that will determine whether it leaves the EU altogether.

The overlap in membership between NATO and the EU makes such defense cooperation both possible and logical, if not unavoidable.

Ukraine also agreed to implement the relevant EU energy directives as part of its membership of the European Energy Community.

Now, it is up to the British public to think deeply about the benefits and sacrifices implicit in EU membership.

The EU works with either non EU states, such as NATO members like Canada, Norway, and Turkey, or applicants for EU membership. The ESDP cooperates with the UN and other regional organizations, such as the African Union and ASEAN.

But two countries essential to this trade Turkey and Ukraine are increasingly estranged from the EU. For Turkey, tensions reflect the lack of progress on the country s application for EU membership.

With all due respect to the UK, dismantling the EU as the price of its continued membership is an absurd idea.

Lagarde, by contrast, seems to be a global Renaissance woman, but her views on Turkey s EU membership could disprove that image.

In short, the EU will no longer be able to offer attractive membership prospects to neighboring countries, nor will it be able to allocate adequate resources for surrogate membership schemes like the Eastern Partnership.