EU leaders in Turkey on April 6 to meet with Erdogan
Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel, here on March 25, 2021 in Brussels.
Aris OIkonomou AFP / Archivos
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
It is a new signal of the desire for detente of the Europeans vis-à-vis Turkey: the Presidents of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and of the Council Charles Michel will visit the country on April 6 to meet President Recep. Tayyip Erdogan.
At the European summit last week, the 27 had already said they were ready to reconnect with Ankara after months of tensions in the eastern Mediterranean, but set conditions on the Turkish president, calling in particular for the continuation of "
the current de-escalation
".
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These are two almost concomitant declarations which signify the major priority for Europeans.
On the one hand, the announcement of Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel's visit to Turkey next week.
On the other hand, this call from the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, traveling to the Greek island of Lesbos, Ylva Johansson, called on Turkey to “
urgently readmit the migrants
” returned from Greece.
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Read also: The EU will allocate 276 million euros for the construction of migrant camps in Greece
The EU, which is also in the process of preparing the continuation of funding for Syrian refugees in Turkey, a sensitive subject between Brussels and Ankara.
Turkey has often judged that the account was not there.
A year ago the country opened its borders to Europe to migrants on its soil.
This new mark of warming between the 27 and Turkey is also a sign of how difficult it is for France to unite on this issue.
Accusation of Turkish interference in the French elections,
indictment of 4 journalists from
Charlie Hebdo
for insulting President Erdogan, all this in a few days, the tension between Paris and Ankara remains very high.
For Ankara, the 27 have in their basket a so-called "positive" agenda, to understand: several areas in which Turkey has long-held expectations, including the modernization of the Customs Union and visa facilities for Turkish nationals.
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