1.   Greece had persuaded the organization to require resolving the long-standing disputes before membership talks could proceed with Turkey, but late Monday the EU foreign ministers changed the wording.

2.   If voters say no to joining the alliance, the Hungarian government would be required to pull out of membership talks.

3.   The other countries that were not invited for membership talks but had applied were Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia.

4.   Poland is due to begin EU membership talks at the end of March along with nine other candidates from Central and Eastern Europe, and Cyprus.

5.   Poland is to enter membership talks with the EU next Wednesday, and has been undertaking economic, legal and administrative reforms to make itself an attractive partner.

6.   An organizer of the conference, Patricia Lorenz, said that in the coming year, the EU must raise nuclear issues during membership talks with Eastern European countries.

7.   Apart from the Czech Republic, the EU has opened fast-track membership talks with Poland, Hungary, Slovenia and Estonia, and Cyprus.

8.   Asparuk accused the Greek Cypriots of excessive arming and urged the European Union to halt membership talks.

9.   Both left-wing candidates favor a quick solution in the talks so that Turkish Cypriots can join the Greek side in membership talks with the European Union.

10.   Britain, Denmark and Austria support a review that could see Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania and Malta open formal membership talks next year.