Off the wire
• S. Africa, Russia join hands in fighting drug trafficking  • Russian Skating Union vow to prove athletes innocent of doping  • China women's football earns ticket to Rio Olympics  • Interview: Chinese firms helpful in development of Nigeria's NW state: governor  • Dutch-based dredging company Royal Boskalis 2015 net profit down 10.2 pct  • Albanian agricultural exports increase significantly in 2016  • Troops kill 2 militants in Indian-controlled Kashmir gunfight  • Top Buddhist monk passes away in Sri Lanka  • IS militants plan to use banned mustard gas in Iraq, Syria: media  • Africa Economy: IMF says Zimbabwe economic difficulties deepen  
You are here: 　 Home

Roundup: EU-Turkey agreement: EP demands respect for int'l law

Xinhua, March 10, 2016 Adjust font size:

Members of European Parliament (MEPs) meeting for a plenary session in Strasbourg examined Wednesday the agreement reached the day before between Brussels and Ankara on managing the flow of migrants and refugees and demanded with insistence that the agreement should respect international asylum rules.

During a debate with emissaries from the European Council and the European Commission, nearly the majority of political groups pled with vigor so that EU-adhesion negotiations for Turkey and those of the liberalization of visas for Turks travelling to the European Union (EU) would be clearly independent of the refugee issue.

Some MEPs strongly questioned the representative of the Dutch presidency of the Council, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, and EU Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis. They didn't hesitate to remark the "lamentable" absence in the Strasbourg hemicycle of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk.

The European Parliament largely demonstrated its discontent and expressed strong concerns regarding the terms of the agreement which were drawn up with Turkey all while recognizing the necessity for cooperation.

The MEPs demanded to be informed of the details of measures coming out of the extraordinary meeting of the heads of state and governments of the EU and the Turkish prime minister, which concluded Tuesday morning in the Belgian capital, after long and repeated negotiations.

At the top of the list of the MEPs' concerns: the leading principle presented during the summit which would establish that for every irregular Syrian migrant transferred from Greece to Turkey, another refugee would be allowed to enter from Turkey into the EU.

Called "A Syrian for a Syrian," this measure is far from creating unanimity within the Parliament. Some MEPs have stood up against a "carpet dealer's policy," or "a text with dubious morality for which the legality isn't guaranteed."

The question is even trickier given that the propositions on the negotiation table would provide for more funds to help Ankara manage the refugee crisis, in addition to the 3 billion euros already promised by the EU. Certain MEPs go as far as to accuse Ankara of being a "blackmailer."

Turkey now receives the largest number of refugees in the world and plays a key role in the resolution of the refugee crisis which the EU must face.

According to UN statistics, 3 million refugees are currently in Turkey, which has also become a transit nation for the majority of those who reach Europe by sea. About 132,000 people are thought to have entered into Europe by this sea route in the first two months of 2016.

The liberalization of visas for Turkish citizens as well as an acceleration of negotiations concerning the adhesion of the country to the EU should be the subject of a final decision during a meeting scheduled for March 17-18 in Brussels between European heads of state and government. Endit