Copenhagen, 24 November 1997 (RFE/RL) -- Danish Foreign Minister Niels Helveg Petersen said today that Denmark will "do its best" to bring Lithuania and Latvia into the European Union.
Petersen is scheduled to take part later in the day in a gathering of European Union Foreign Ministers in Brussels that is expected to discuss expansion to take in new members. The European Commission is currently concentrating on Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Estonia as the most likely new members from Central and Eastern Europe.
Denmark has said that negotiations on EU expansion must start simultaneously with all applicants, including those not now under consideration, such as Lithuania and Latvia.