Gymnich meeting with intensive discussions about Turkey

One topic under intensive discussion at an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers, also known as Gymnich, in Bratislava was Turkey, officials said on Saturday.

The announcement was made by Slovak Foreign and European Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajcak at a joint press conference with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on Saturday.

Turkey was discussed twice, first on Friday within the circle of EU members and then on Saturday with Turkish European Affairs Minister Omer Celik present.

"We discussed how we see developments in Turkey and the further development of relations between the EU and Turkey," said Lajcak.

Meanwhile, all EU foreign ministers at GYMNICH expressed full solidarity with the Turkish minister.

A joint message from the talks with Turkey was a repeated commitment to further dialogues as well as a reassurance that all the approved agreements will be respected.

In addition, during the two-day deliberations in Bratislava organised within the Slovak presidency of the EU Council, the ministers also evaluated the Minsk peace process and its prospects, and assessed the implementation of the recently adopted EU global strategy in various fields.

Representatives from EU candidate countries took part in the meeting in Bratislava as well.

"The talks were devoted to topics, such as preventing radicalism, extremism and fighting terrorism. In these issues, we are partners, as they have been threatening us all, so we have to fight them together," stressed Lajcak. Endit