"It would be absurd not to keep the promise just because France and the Netherlands rejected the Constitution in the referendums," Angela Merkel said during a debate on European policy in the Bundestag.
It is important that Croatia meets all the necessary criteria for EU membership, and the same goes for Bulgaria and Romania, she noted.
The most likely candidate for the German chancellor again rejected the possibility of Turkey joining the bloc. "Our goal is clear, and that is a privileged partnership between Turkey and the European Union," she said.
Merkel believes that the recent rejection of the European Constitution is a clear signal from European citizens that the EU must clearly define enlargement possibilities.