European Commission: No ‘carte blanche’ to Turkey on its EU admission path

EU members should help Greece and take in refugees, say Vice-President Timmermans

The European Commission made it clear that it would not give Turkey a ‘carte blanche’ on the refugee crisis. Timmermans outlined three core aspects associated with any EU agreement with Turkey on the refugee crisis. These were the political, technical and the legal facets, the main goal of which were to not make the situation in Idomeni refugee camp in Greece ‘the norm’, as he said. He made it clear that there would not be mass repulsions of refugees and regulations guarding individual assessment and asylum provision would be strictly abided by. On the matter of Turkey’s EU accession process the Commission’s Vice-President stressed that Turkey’s EU accession process and the opening of chapters would depend directly on the country’s reform progress, adding that a similar rigorous formula would be adopted in judging the freeing of travel visas for Turkish nationals to the European Union. On the more down to earth pressing matters of dealing with the crisis in Greece, Timmermans said that the country should be helped in constructing the necessary reception infrastructures to aid refugees and avoid a full blown humanitarian crisis. The Commission also called on other EU members to accelerate the processes of admitting refugees in accordance to the agreement signed in 2015.