The summit of EU – Turkey on 7 March in Brussels, and it immediately followed by a separate emergency meeting of Heads of State and Government of the 28 states of the Community. The only theme in the “menu” of both meetings will be the migration crisis.
Turkish transit
The theme alone, but considered to be the most different aspects of it.
With Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, the EU leaders will discuss limiting the influx of migrants to Europe through the territory of this country. The EU wants to limit the number of inbound one thousand per day, whereas in the first two months of this year this figure was 2 thousand to 2.5 thousand per day.
Turkish-Balkan route in the autumn of last year, has become the main corridor transit of illegal migrants into the EU. In Turkey they are flocking from all over the Greater Middle East, primarily from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. From there, illegals get through the Aegean Sea to the coast of Greece, and then through the State of the Balkans enter the main countries of the Schengen area (Greece included in the visa-free space that brings together 26 states, but does not have with him the land border).
EU Turkey at the last summit on 29-30 November 2015 worked out an action plan to limit the migration. For his performance of Brussels has promised Ankara € 3 billion, which should go to meet the needs of migrants in the Turkish territory. Alas, in the past, the EU countries have not noticed any significant reduction in the flow of refugees, which calls into question the provision of financial assistance to Turkey. However, Brussels prefers loud not to recognize that the agreement with Turkey has not really earned, because any alternative ways to limit migration it does not have.
In this regard, the EU will seek to obtain from the Turkish specific commitments to reduce migration flows in particular by determining the “ceiling” of arriving migrants in 1000 per day.
in addition, the EU will try to capture the willingness of Ankara to take back migrants who are denied asylum in Europe.
The EU countries also intend to invite Ankara to create on the Turkish territory to supply migrant centers petitions for political asylum in the European Union. Refugees whose petitions are approved, would be able to come to Europe legally without having to cross the Aegean Sea to the crumbling boat. Conditions for the implementation of the plan remains the same – the suppression of Turkey’s existing channels illegal transportation
On the eve of the summit, President of the European Council Donald Tusk has made a series of trips to the Balkan countries, and visited Ankara on March 3.. At a press conference after talks with Davutolgu he said: “We agreed that migration flows are still too high and need further actions Turkey should decide which way to achieve their reduction.”
According to. Tusk, it is necessary to continue the policy of return of illegal migrants to Turkey. “This will destroy the business model of refugees carriers,” – he said
Turkish media and millions of refugees
On the eve of the summit in Turkey, there was a new scandal around the opposition newspaper Zaman,, which was actually delivered. under the control of the state by the court. The publication and its English version Today’s Zaman sharply criticized the current leadership of Turkey, both the government and the president. Turkish authorities also believe that the newspaper was associated with living in the US Islamic opposition Fethullah Gülen and his movement “Khizmat” which Ankara accuses of destabilizing the situation in the country in the summer of 2013 and other attempts to undermine confidence in the authorities.
March 4 Istanbul court decided to appoint an opposition publication of external managers. The next day, police fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowd, gathered at the editorial board to protest against this decision.
European Parliament President Martin Schulz immediately wrote on his page on the social network Twitter, that these events will be discussed at summit on 7 March. Zaman – is yet another blow to freedom of the press in Turkey. I intend to raise this issue on Monday, “- he said
However, even if this issue will be raised at the meeting, he is unlikely to have a practical impact on the discussions at the summit with a position of power in favor is Turkey.. , whose President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly from the beginning of the year said that Ankara can “miss in Europe millions of refugees.” While this argument in Brussels acts, the European Union is unprofitable to seriously exaggerate annoying issues such as the persecution of journalists. Although the reasons for this are – issue of freedom of the media could be raised in the context of the ongoing negotiations on the admission of Turkey into the EU, in which the country subscribed to the European values.
Syrian aspect
The theme of the Syrian settlement also inevitably be affected at the summit, because it is the war in Syria it is one of the main causes of “migration tsunami”.
in words, Ankara and Brussels have announced their support for the peace process. However, a closed-door meeting at the highest level, Europeans could raise the issue of Turkish strikes on the positions of Syrian Kurds, not to mention the continuing supply of arms Islamist groups in Syria through the border with Turkey. In the context of the declared truce, the main role in the preparation of which was played by Russia, Turkey in its quest to avoid strengthening the position of the Kurds in northern Syria actually supports the continuation of the fighting, but when you consider its attacks on Kurdish positions, and it is their party.
However, as with the theme of freedom of the media, on Syria from the summit in Brussels can hardly wait for the results, since the EU is currently just not enough pressure on Ankara arms.
European afterword
at the end of the EU summit – Turkey Davutoglu will travel to the headquarters of NATO – NATO Secretary-General informed of the results of the negotiations. And European leaders will discuss the results of the discussion in the circle. As for the Turkish Prime Minister will close the door, they will discuss the vexing question – whether or not they believed the promises of Ankara, are whether these promises 3 billion euros, and if so, how the money collected
The second topic will be the discussion of the plan. European Commission to restore normal functioning of the Schengen area by the end of this year. It has estimated that the refusal of a visa-free Schengen space will cost the European economy in the
EUR 18 billion of lost profits annually. At present, eight of the 26 Community countries have introduced a temporary passport control at its borders. European Commission Action Plan does not contain any fundamentally new measures. “Recipe” is still the same – control of external borders, the establishment of a full-fledged European Border Agency and the Coast Guard, to ensure registration of biometrics and 100% of arriving migrants, creating a working mechanism for resettlement of those who have been granted asylum, and deportation of those who do not get it. All of these measures have already been agreed by the EU countries, but the problem is how to make them work.
An example of the failure of the implementation of these decisions at the moment is the question of the settlement of migrants. According to the European Commission, from October 2015 till February 2016 to legally distribute EU countries managed less than 700 refugees from the agreed quota of 120 thousand people despite the fact that, according to the European statistical agency – Eurostat, in 2015 in the 28 EU countries was served 1.25 million petitions for asylum. It was an absolute record in the history of the European Union.
TASS correspondent Victoria Dubrovin, Denis Dubrovin,
Brussels, 7 March.
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