http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/12/12/news/EU_GEN_EU_Summit.php

BRUSSELS, Belgium: With Turkey's membership talks partially frozen, the 25 EU leaders open a two-day summit Thursday where the bloc will signal to a half-dozen others waiting on the porch that they, too, should not bank on EU leniency if they want to get through the front door.

The no-pushover message became easier to give to aspiring EU members after foreign ministers overcame internal differences Monday and drew a line in the sand for Turkey for refusing to open its ports to trade with EU member Cyprus.

It makes me wonder, however...if you're not a pushover, then why the need to issue "no pushover" messages at all? Do future EU candidates really think the EU is a pushover? Isn't such a warning redundant?