German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday she continues to support Turkey's European Union membership talks, but reiterated her party's argument that a lesser "privileged partnership" would be a better outcome.

New French President Nicolas Sarkozy has vowed to halt predominantly Muslim Turkey's membership bid and called on the E.U. to launch a debate to set the bloc's final borders.

Merkel's Christian Democratic Union is also skeptical, and called for a " privileged partnership" in its 2005 election campaign. The chancellor has made plain she stands by that position. But she governs in a coalition with the center-left Social Democrats, who support Turkey's bid, and her government supports the two-year-old membership talks.

A draft of a revamped CDU party platform, to be put to a party conference later this year, states "only European states can join the European Union."

Merkel said Monday "Turkey has at least a European element, and so the pure question of demarcation is certainly not the question of appraisal for Turkey."

"You know our position, and it has not been changed," Merkel said at a news conference. "We want a very close linkage of Turkey to the European Union; we favor the idea of a privileged partnership; we are loyal to agreements and so are participating in the membership negotiations, which have now been extended by two chapters."

Merkel didn't address Sarkozy's stance. Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates, who took over the E.U.'s rotating presidency from Germany over the weekend, has said he aims to keep entry negotiations with Turkey on track.