European Parliament approves expansion, but split over Iraq

Ten EU candidate countries cleared a key hurdle on the path to membership yesterday when a European Parliament committee approved the expansion plans by a large majority. But in a sign of the tensions triggered within the EU by the Iraq crisis, some law-makers voted against taking in Poland and several other candidates because of their strong support for the United States' plans for war against Baghdad. "We [in the Foreign Affairs Committee] have sent a positive signal to the ten acceding countries and are sure that the Parliament will act similarly in plenary session on April 9," the committee's chairman Elmar Brok told a news conference. The lawmakers also had to vote on individual reports on each of the candidates. A few, mostly left-wing, MEPs voted against the accession of Poland and other pro-US candidates. (Reuters) A.C.