Oettinger, a German politician from Angela Merkel's ruling CDU party, told the German newspaper Bild:

"The EU has learned to overcome crises, but the number of countries with unstable and populist governments is growing. That worries me and for the first time I feel that the EU may fall apart."

He also said that EU's enlargement to iinclude Eastern European countries after the end of the Cold War happened "too fast" and "does not affect well Europe's ability to act today, as there are divided positions on the admission of refugees."

According to Oettinger, that enlargement was "justified for political reasons." He also said that Turkey, a candidate for EU membership since 2005, will likely not join during this decade - because negotiations are stalled due to the opposition from some member-states.