No EU expansion delay despite Irish vote: presidency

LJUBLJANA (Reuters) - The rejection by Irish voters of the European Union's Lisbon Treaty will not delay the bloc's enlargement, EU president Slovenia said on Friday.

"I don't think there will be any delays in that respect," Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, told a news conference.

"I don't think it will impact on formal and technical procedures ... with all those countries that are negotiating."

Croatia and Turkey are negotiating EU membership, with the current Nice treaty envisaging only the former joining the bloc. But Turkey is expected to join well after 2015 and a new EU treaty may have taken effect by then, analysts say.

(Reporting by Marja Novak)