European Council President Donald Tusk welcomed the agreement reached between EU and Turkey on the refugee at a joint press conference with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

“Today, we have finally reached an agreement between the EU and Turkey. An agreement aimed at stopping the flow of irregular migration via Turkey to Europe,” Mr. Tusk said.

“We must ensure our agreement complies with all EU and international laws. This includes the respect for the principle of non-refoulement and it excludes any kind of collective expulsions”, he added.

“The deal needs to be acceptable for all EU member states, regardless of their size. Regarding Turkey’s accession to the EU, we agreed on the opening of Chapter 33,” he said.

Mr. Tusk said the agreement will enter into force this Sunday, while the implementation will be phased in gradually and based on 1-for-1 principle.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmed Davutoglu thanked Messrs Juncker and Tusk and said that this is an historic day, because “we shared our visions”.

“Once again it was confirmed that Turkey and EU share a common future,” he stressed adding that the agreement on the refugee has a humanitarian dimension.