According to comments made at a televised joint press conference with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels, Mogherini said Turkey has no reason to fear that the EU will not offer it a liberal visa policy.
“If it meets all the criteria, it will receive the recommendations of the European Commission for visa-free travel,” she said.
Juncker also said Turkey must meet all criteria, which, he added, would not be watered down to suit the country.
“If Turkey takes the necessary measures to fulfill the remaining benchmarks, the report will be accompanied by a legislative proposal for transferring Turkey to the visa-free list,” he added.
On Tuesday, Mogherini told France Inter radio that Turkish citizens will receive visa- free travel to Europe "once all the criteria are respected, as for all countries with which we negotiate free travel for a limited period.”
- The EU foreign policy chief added "it was the case with Georgia, it was the case with Ukraine, it is a discussion we are having with Kosovo. There are very strict, technical criteria that must be put in place, a very severe verification must be carried out to apply this measure."
Under an EU-Turkey deal to ease the refugee crisis facing Europe, EU leaders agreed to cut visa requirements for Turkish citizens and accelerate Turkey's EU membership bid.
The deal also provides a €6 billion ($6.8 billion) aid package to help Turkey care for millions of refugees hosted in Turkey.
[aa.com.tr]
27/4/16
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Tough standards for Turks' visa-free travel: EU's Timmermans...
ReplyDeleteThe deputy head of the European Commission insisted on Thursday that the EU executive would not lower its standards to offer visa-free travel to Turks in the coming weeks as part of a deal to stem migration.
"We will not play around with those benchmarks," First Vice President Frans Timmermans told the European Parliament, referring to 72 criteria Turkey must meet if its citizens are to be allowed to travel to the EU without obtaining a visa first.
"The onus is on Turkey," he said. "They say they can do it."
The Commission is due to decide on Wednesday whether to recommend to member states to grant by the end of June the visa waiver scheme which the bloc offered Ankara as part of a deal in March by which Turkey is now taking back refugees and migrants who reach Greek islands from its shores.....REUTERS
28/4/16