Off the wire
• Relocation serves as means, not end in poverty elimination: vice premier  • U.S. stocks open lower ahead of Fed statement  • Ghana picks 23 players for AFCON qualifiers  • AU deploys observers for Cape Verde elections  • Saudi Arabia hails pull-out of Russian forces from Syria  • Roundup: Findings suggest PKK behind deadly bombing attack in Turkey's capital  • Results of Chinese Super League  • Chinese Super League standings  • Putin urges not to politicize doping scandal  • Palestinian officials condemn Israel's seizure of lands  
You are here: 　 Home

Roundup: EU summit aims to reach new deal with Turkey on migration crisis

Xinhua, March 16, 2016 Adjust font size:

The EU summit on Thursday and Friday aims to reach a new, upgraded agreement with Turkey to tackle the migration crisis, the EU said Wednesday.

An official spokesperson said EU leaders will discuss a comprehensive strategy to tackle the migration crisis and proposals made by Turkey during the March 7 EU-Turkey summit.

Leaders are expected to call for more work to be done on hotspots, increased support to Greece, the return of irregular migrants to Turkey, and to speed up the migrant relocation process from Greece across the EU.

The Turkish delegation will be represented by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

The EU spokesperson admitted "it's not easy to negotiate a new deal."

The aim of the summit would be to deliver on promises to stem the flows of irregular migrants from Turkey, to break the business model of smugglers and to protect the EU's external borders.

At the EU-Turkey meeting on March 7, the EU and Turkey reached six principles upon which further talks will be based.

The principles include the return of all new irregular migrants crossing from Turkey into Greek islands, quick implementation of a visa liberation roadmap for Turkish citizens, speedy disbursement of 3 billion euros (3.3 billion U.S. dollars) in aid, and deciding on additional funding for refugee facilities for Syrians.

The EU and Turkey last November came up with an action plan, aiming to stem the massive migrant flows with Brussels promising to distribute 3 billion euros to Ankara to provide assistance in dealing with the refugees. Ankara was reported to have complained about the EU's slowness in allocating the money.

Europe has been going through the worst refugee crisis since World War II. Greece, a front-line country in the crisis, currently sees some 2,000 refugees arriving on its shores each day.

European Council President Donald Tusk earlier admitted that "the flow of migrants passing from Turkey to Greece remains much too high and needs to be brought down significantly."

The EU is also cooperating closely with NATO to cope with the migration crisis. Endit