European Union

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Illustration: Croatia and the EU by John Camejo for The Washington Times

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Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou's decision to put the EU bailout to a vote angered even some in his own party. (Associated Press)

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Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou speaks to the media as he arrives for an European Union summit in Brussels on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe)

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy give a joint media conference at the European Union summit in Brussels on Sunday, Oct. 23, 2011. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives at the Chancellery in Berlin on Monday, Oct. 24, 2011, to brief lawmakers on Sunday's European Union summit on the euro financial crisis. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

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EU President Herman Van Rompuy speaks during a Serbia-EU Forum in Belgrade, Serbia, on Sept. 9, 2011. (Associated Press)

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Associated Press Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou speaks at an EU summit Thursday. Seventeen EU countries are close to signing a second bailout for Greece worth $155 billion, on top of $158 billion granted a year ago.

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** FILE ** Saeed Jalili (left), Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, and Catherine Ashton, the European Union's foreign policy chief, talk as they arrive at the historical Ciragan Palace in Istanbul on Friday, Jan. 21, 2011, for a meeting between Iran and world powers on Iran's nuclear program. (AP Photo/Salih Zeki Fazlioglu, Anatolia, Pool, File)

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European Union Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton talks to Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq in Cairo, Egypt,Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2011. (AP Photo/Seliman al Oteifi)

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ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOGRAPHS German Chancellor Angela Merkel makes a point to Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou (left) and French President Nicolas Sarkozy during a European Union summit in Brussels on Friday.

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From left, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel participate in a round table discussion at an EU summit in Brussels, Friday, Feb. 4, 2011. EU leaders meet for a one-day summit on Friday, with energy, the eurozone debt crisis and unrest in Egypt set to dominate the agenda. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe)

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** FILE ** Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen speaks during a media conference at a European Union summit in Brussels on Friday, Dec. 17, 2010. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert, File)

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, looks over papers with French President Nicolas Sarkozy during a round table meeting at an EU summit in Brussels, Friday, Dec. 17, 2010. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe)

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Attorney General Eric Holder, accompanied by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, speaks Thursday at the Justice Department in Washington following an U.S.-EU Justice and Home Affairs Ministerial Meeting. (Associated Press)

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Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (right) talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during the European Union-Russia summit in Brussels on Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2010. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe)

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Flags of the European Union were sewn in a Belgrade workshop in 2005 despite anti-Western violence by nationalists and Serbian leaders' pledge to shelve attempts to join the EU. Now, however, the country appears determined to shed its negative aura and focus on joining the Continent's club of responsible Western democracies. (Associated Press)

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Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen speaks to the media in Dublin on Sunday, Nov. 28, 2010, on the European Union's $113 billion bailout deal to help debt-struck Ireland with its banking crisis.

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President Obama during his arrival in Lisbon, Portugal, Friday, Nov. 19, 2010, for summits with NATO partners and the European Union. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

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FILE - In this file photo of Sept. 11 2009 Elton John salutes the audience during his performance at the Piedigrotta festival in Naples. The European Union ordered Italy Friday Nov. 19, 2010 to repay it close to $1 million in EU funds used to stage an Elton John concert. The European Commission says Italy had no right to use EU funds for the 2009 concert in the city of Naples. EU spokesman Ton van Lierop said EU money can be used to promote culture but not if that means staging a one-off rock concert. "We have asked for our money back," he added. (AP Photo/Salvatore Laporta)

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US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is greeted by the members of the the Bosnian tri partite Presidency, Chairman Haris Silajdzic, second left, Nebojsa Radmanovic, second right, and Zeljko Komsic in Sarajevo, Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2010. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is pressing political reforms to the restive Balkans with the hope that such changes will lead to the region's full integration into the European Union and NATO. Secretary Clinton arrived late on Monday, in the capital of ethnically divided Bosnia-Herzegovina, which just held elections, to urge the country's new leadership to make EU membership a priority. (AP Photo/Mandel Ngan, Pool)