Danish Premier sends clear warning to candidate countries over negotiations

Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Copenhagen summit host, urged all the 10 candidates to accept the financial agreements on the table, or risk delaying their entry into the Union until at least 2007. "I am not saying that it is a question of now or never. But it is a question of now or postponement for years, maybe for many years," he said. He also told a news conference that some EU members thought he had already been too generous. "At the moment, I have no more money... I foresee tough negotiations," he added. Diplomats said that this was a hint that there still is some space for negotiations. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder sent a similar signal. He said that Germany, the EU's biggest paymaster, would not allow the historic opportunity for a peaceful and prosperous united Europe to fail. Denmark's leaders hope to wind up the summit on Friday evening, although they say that the negotiations could drag on into Saturday. (Reuters) K.Z.