Tusk cautious over reaching a deal with Turkey to take back migrants
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THE European Union’s summit chairman said yesterday that he was “more cautious than optimistic” about the chances of reaching a deal with Turkey this week to halt an influx of migrants that has caused a backlash in Europe.
Hours before EU leaders met to try to agree on financial and political rewards to offer Turkey in return for a commitment to take back all migrants who cross from its shores to Greece, European Council President Donald Tusk sounded downbeat.
“The agreement must be acceptable to all 28 member states, no matter big or small,” he told a news conference in a clear reference to Cyprus’ objections to accelerating Turkey’s EU membership talks.
After a year in which more than a million people have arrived in Europe, fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and beyond, EU countries are looking desperately to Turkey to seal its coastline and stem the flow.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, who runs the EU executive, said he was “pretty confident” of a deal and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, an early backer of the Turkish plan, said there was “no alternative” for ending the crisis.
But Tusk forecast difficult talks, saying any agreement must fully comply with European and international law; UN agencies and rights groups have been skeptical it will do that and some EU leaders arriving at the summit shared that disquiet.
Lithuania’s President Dalia Grybauskaite said the package was “very much on the edge of international law” and, even if agreed, appeared over-complicated and hard to implement.
In Ankara, a senior Turkish official said countries like Cyprus should not be allowed to block progress, and that Tusk’s pre-summit visit to Ankara on Tuesday had not fully resolved issues over the proposed pact.
Turkey did not intend to make new demands or proposals when Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu met the EU leaders yesterday, the official said, appearing to rule out any goodwill gesture to break the standoff with Cyprus.
EU officials were expecting Davutoglu and Tusk to meet late yesterday to prepare for the broader meeting with the EU.
A Cypriot spokesman said Cyprus would not retreat from its stance, which effectively demands Turkey recognize its statehood, and said any resolution would be “exclusively up to Turkey.”
A draft agreement circulated by Tusk and debated by EU ambassadors on Wednesday evening watered down two important inducements to Turkey and included safeguards intended to overcome legal objections to sending back migrants.
Ankara’s central objective — securing visa-free travel for Turks to Europe by June — will depend on it meeting a raft of long-standing criteria.
After discussing the economy, the 28 EU national leaders will debate the detailed terms to offer Turkey over dinner.
Davutoglu is due to join EU leaders for a breakfast today, at which Tusk hopes to finalize a deal the Turkish premier first sprang on a surprised EU with backing from German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a special summit 10 days ago.
Under the plan, Turkey would take back all those, including Syrian refugees, who cross from its shores to Greek islands. The EU would double an agreed 3 billion euro (US$3.4 billion) fund to help refugees in Turkey and would hasten visa-free travel for Turks in Europe.
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