Twists and turns in Brussels, where the EU-Turkey summit on migrants is filled with tension. At the last minute, Ankara asked for additional funding (in addition to the three billion already foreseen), faster access to Schengen visas for Turkish citizens and an accelerated process for its application to join the Union. At this point, the agreement to reduce the flow of migrants to Europe risks falling apart.
“It is the second summit in a few months, and this shows how indispensable Turkey is for the EU and how much the EU is for Turkey – said the Turkish premier, Ahmet Davutoglu, upon his arrival in Brussels – we have many challenges to be faced together in the name of solidarity. But the picture must be seen as a whole, not only by looking at the problem of irregular migrants but also at the process of entry into the EU”.
The words of the Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann then came to add fuel to the fire: “We will close all the routes – he said – even the Balkan one. Traffickers must not have any opportunities”, because for many it has been too easy so far to “let people pass”.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban takes the same line: “There can be no discussions of direct resettlements from Turkey to Europe: certainly not in Hungary, because there is no possibility that the Hungarian government will make any kind of concession. We consider resettlement to Europe to be a mistake. If we take migrants directly from Greece or Türkiye it is an invitation to dance. Then even more will come."
In the draft of the Council's final conclusions, one of the most important passages concerns Turkey's commitment to speed up the procedure for the refoulement of economic migrants arriving from Greece. German Chancellor Merkel hopes to convince the Turkish government to take back as many migrants as possible, especially those from Morocco, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Syrian rescued at sea in the coming months. But Ankara did not miss the opportunity to raise the price.
