EU: The two states' efforts to join the EU could fail if it is confirmed that they hosted secret CIA detention camps, reports Marie O'Halloran in Strasbourg.
Romania's and Bulgaria's proposed membership of the EU could be under threat if it is confirmed that secret CIA detention camps were located there and the two states fail to identify the locations and to give assurances that they are no longer involved, a senior MEP has warned.
Elmar Brok, chairman of the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee, said the two countries "must act immediately".
He said they must confirm the existence of such prisons "if they were involved", and guarantee "they are no longer involved and will not be in the future".
Mr Brok also insisted the countries' response must be part of the EU Commission's report at the end of September, on which it will base its decision on the two countries' admission to the EU.
If the countries are admitted and "if we only find out then about the camps, we will be in a crisis", Mr Brok warned.
German MEP Wolfgang Kreill-Doerfler also called on Romania and EU member state Poland to speak out about the location of prison camps. "We need to know if there has been any complicity in illegal acts by governments of EU countries or states seeking EU membership."
They were commenting in the wake of US president Bush's admission of secret detention centres around the world.
British MEP Sarah Ludford said Mr Bush's admission showed he had lied about the rendition programme, and "he exposes to ridicule the arrogant European government leaders who dismissed our fears about the rendition programme as unfounded".
Labour MEP Proinsias de Rossa said that as well as the EU demanding confirmation of where these camps are, "the Taoiseach must now demand a full and frank statement from the US authorities regarding their use of Irish airports.
"He must also without further delay establish an inspection procedure to ensure that in line with our international obligations, Irish territory cannot be used for illegal transfer of suspects."
Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern and Attorney General Rory Brady have been invited to address the parliament's temporary CIA committee investigating rendition flights and are likely to attend in the next two months.
The president of the Council of Europe, Renee Van der Linden, said the admission vindicated the report which its rapporteur, Swiss MEP Dick Marty, produced which said there were a number of interrogation centres. Mr Marty also claimed Ireland had colluded by accepting US assurances that Shannon was not being used covertly to transfer prisoners.
Committee member Fianna Fáil MEP Eoin Ryan said yesterday Mr Bush had admitted "what everyone already suspected and knew for a long time. If we have international conventions and laws, people must obey them."
Fine Gael's committee member Simon Coveney said "international standards must be respected, otherwise the US cannot expect to give moral leadership on the overall fight against terrorism".
Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini said negotiations were due to start today in Brussels on a new agreement between the EU and the US on the transfer of data, aimed at combating terrorism.