- Published: 16.10.2015.
Croatian PM expects progress in EU-Turkish cooperation
Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic said in Brussels on Thursday that he expected progress over an agreement regarding cooperation between the European Union and Turkey concerning the refugee crisis.
"I expect an agreement, progress in relations with Turkey because this cannot go on any longer. I believe there are some indications of an agreement with Turkey, of a financial and political nature, but a consensus needs to be reached on this," Milanovic said ahead of a summit of the 28 EU leaders.
With the escalating crisis in Syria, the EU considers Turkey to be the key to reducing the pressure of refugees. EU leaders will attempt to reach an agreement on what Turkey can be offered so that it retains a larger number of Syrian refugees. Turkey is requesting liberalisation of the visa regime and EU support to set up a security zone in northern Syria.
Asked about the chances of agreement on a common EU border service, Milanovic said "that's impossible. That could have been done by now. Greece could have done that by now. Turkey is important here too. It isn't a member of the EU, but certain concessions will be necessary toward Turkey," Milanovic said.
He added that the Dublin Regulation was not working at all because it did not foresee such an extraordinary situation. "No one is respecting the Dublin rules. Angela Merkel has said that, at the moment, it is not working. Hungary has said that that the system has fallen apart in Croatia, while the same thing is happening in Hungary. Hungary has received a lot migrants during the year, but with a very low intensity, slowly, and what has been happening over the past month cannot be controlled by anyone, not Croatia, not Hungary, not Germany. As such, the Dublin Regulation at the moment doesn't exist. It was designed for an absolutely different era," Milanovic said.
(Text & photo: Hina)
(Text & photo: Hina)