French conservative presidential frontrunner Nicolas Sarkozy has publicly expressed his belief that his opposition to Turkey's bid to join the European Union is gaining ground among EU leaders. Speaking after a summit of conservative prime ministers and party leaders from EU states on Thursday in Brussels, Sarkozy said he was pleased with this week's EU decision to slow down Turkey's negotiation process in order to punish Ankara for its refusal to open its ports to traffic from Greek Cyprus. A German official who attended the closed-door meeting said Sarkozy dropped a veiled hint that he could veto Turkey's accession process if elected president next May, saying he would have an obligation to the French people. Sarkozy urged the conservative leaders to start work on defining the content of a 'privileged partnership' with Turkey as an alternative, the German official said. "Angela Merkel, Jose-Manuel Barroso, Jean-Claude Juncker, Wilfried Martens -- we are all in agreement that we need a Europe with borders," he said, reports Turkish Daily News.