EU offers to lift visa regime by June, double financial aid in draft EU proposal

The European Union has offered to lift visa requirements and provide an additional 3 billion euros in aid to Turkey, after a half-day summit was extended upon Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu’s suggestion of “new ideas” going beyond Ankara’s commitments to curb a flood of migrants to Europe, Reuters has reported.

According to Reuters, the EU is set to offer ending visa requirements for Turks to the Schengen zone by the end of June. Bringing visa-free travel was one of the Turkish delegation’s priorities.

• The EU will also offer Turkey an additional 3 billion euros for Syrian refugees by the end of 2018, in addition to admitting one Syrian refugee from Turkey for every Syrian sent back to Turkey from the Greek islands.

The Brussels summit was extended on March 7, as one EU official told Reuters that Turkey started “offering more and demanding more” in the first working session.

He said Davutoğlu would set out further-reaching proposals over a working lunch with the 28 EU leaders and the summit would continue into the evening to try to reach agreement on them.

• An EU diplomat said Turkey wanted more than the 3 billion euros pledged so far in aid for Syrian refugees on its soil, an immediate speeding up of its EU accession talks and bringing forward visa-free travel for Turks to Europe to this spring.

• In return, Ankara was ready to take back non-Syrian migrants refused asylum in Europe, in addition to those stopped in Turkish territorial waters, he said.

Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on March 7 that he hoped Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu would return from the summit with the 3 billion euros in aid.

“We already spent $10 billion for 3 million people. They promised to give us 3 billion euros but four months have passed since then. The prime minister is in Brussels right now. I hope he returns with that money, the 3 billion euros,” Erdoğan said in a speech.
 [hurriyetdailynews.com]
 7/3/16