EU's Tusk Urges Leaders to Back Turkey Refugee Deal -- 3rd Update
November 29 2015 - 1:29PM
Dow Jones News
By Laurence Norman in Brussels and Emre Peker in Istanbul
BRUSSELS--European Union leaders sought member-state approval of
a deal with Turkey that would have Ankara take steps to cut the
flow of migrants into Europe in exchange for EUR3 billion ($3.18
billion) and help with its bid to join the 28-nation bloc.
"After many weeks of hard work...we have reached an agreement
which I hope will be accepted by all parties concerned," European
Council President Donald Tusk said before a meeting in Brussels.
Sunday's meeting will "re-energize" often strained ties between the
EU and Turkey, Mr. Tusk said.
At the heart of the proposed migration deal is Turkey's Turkey's
promises of tightening its border controls in exchange for some
EUR3 billion ($3.19 billion) in cash and other benefits from the
EU. Those include speeding up work on Turkey's EU membership bid
and a new push to help Ankara win visa-free access to the bloc for
its citizens.
The EU has been pressing Turkey to tighten controls on its
borders with Greece for some time. Formal talks started in
September.
Under the deal, Turkey would toughen its patrols in the Aegean
Sea and on the land borders with Greece and Bulgaria, as well as
cracking down on human-trafficking gangs. Ankara would agree to
take back to Turkey migrants whose asylum claims are denied by EU
countries.
Migrants and refugees have crossed the sea from Turkey into
Greece in their thousands in recent months, making Greece's eastern
islands one of the main entry points for the biggest influx of
migrants since the end of World War II. Already this year, more
than 700,000 migrants, mainly Syrian, have arrived in the EU via
Turkey, according to the International Organization of
Migration.
The EU has still to work out how to provide financial support
for Turkey.
"We need EUR3 billion," European Commission President
Jean-Claude Juncker said on his way into the summit. Of that sum,
the European Commission would come up with EUR500 million and
national EU governments should agree on how to come up with the
rest at a later date, Mr. Juncker said.
However, underlining the continued lack of trust between Ankara
and the EU, much of the focus ahead of Sunday's summit has been on
how to guarantee the other side will keep to its pledges. Diplomats
have noted the absence of Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
from Sunday's meeting.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who on Friday formed a
new government in Ankara, said Sunday's summit was a historic day
to advance the country's bid to join the EU and to work with the
bloc on geopolitical challenges including the migration crisis.
"I am thankful to all European leaders for this new beginning,"
Mr. Davutoglu said as he arrived for the summit meeting.
But German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in comments ahead of the
meeting, said the result of Turkey's EU membership negotiations
were "open."
The first EU-Turkey summit in 11 years comes as Ankara faces
diplomatic and security challenges from Moscow following the
downing of a Russian warplane on Tuesday.
While a joint response to the refugee crisis is top of the
agenda, the Turkish delegation is expected to press European
counterparts on broader geopolitical issues led by the Syrian
conflict, the fight against Islamic State and Russia's increasingly
assertive military operations in support of the Damascus regime
just south of Turkey's border.
On Thursday, Turkey's EU Affairs Minister Volkan Bozkir said
Ankara and the EU would start talks covering economic and monetary
policies as soon as Dec. 14-15. Turkey and the EU have started
negotiations on 14 of the 35 policy criteria that Ankara must
fulfill to join the bloc.
While the refugee crisis has strengthened Ankara's hand in
negotiations, domestic developments in Turkey are complicating its
efforts.
Two prominent Turkish journalists were jailed on Thursday,
pending trial, in connection with a report alleging Turkey has
shipped weapons to Syrian rebels, which the government had
repeatedly denied.
Their arrests follow the government's seizure of opposition
media outlets before elections in November.
The U.S. and EU have both sharply criticized the moves.
Tom Fairless contributed to this article.
Write to Laurence Norman at laurence.norman@wsj.com and Emre
Peker at emre.peker@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 29, 2015 13:14 ET (18:14 GMT)
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