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CDU candidate: EU accession talks with Turkey should halt

The German Health Minister and candidate for the leadership of Germany's Christian Democratic Party (CDU), Jens Spahn, has come out in favor of the end of the EU accession talks with Turkey.

"Everyone can see it, Turkey in its present state will never become a member of the European Union. It would be honest to end the accession negotiations," Span said in an interview with Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland.

Span, who belongs to the CDU conservative wing, has also pointed out the need for Germany to show a greater understanding of its eastern neighbors. "Germany needs to understand more and act as a mediator with the countries of central and eastern Europe," he said, but made it clear that he does not agree with everything that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban does. "But we must try to understand it. Countries like Hungary and Poland historically understand things differently from Germany," he concluded.