Juncker to Turkey: No concessions on visas for Turkey before it delivers

EU dependent more on Turkey than vice-versa on refugee issue

European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker made it clear that Turkey would have to fulfil all the necessary requirements deriving from the EU-Turkey refugee agreement before Europe would lift all the restrictions on visas for Tuksih citizens traveling to the continent. He stressed there would be no concessions for Turkey on the issue. The EU depends on Turkey to curb the refugee flows coming into Europe from the shores of Asia minor, but Turkey has repeatedly threatened to to uphold its part of the deal, unless the EU starts relaxing visa requirements for Turks. Turkey and the EU have reached an agreement on the ways to jointly handle the refugee crisis that, among other things, entails one migrants readmitted back to Turkey and one let into the EU; EU financial assistance to Turkey for the nearly 2 million Syrian refugees it hosts; tighter border controls on human trafficking; and the opening of some chapters for Turkey’s admission to the EU. Juncker was adamant in his position saying: ‘The criteria will not be mitigated’.