EU leaders to meet Turkish prime minister as refugee deal falls short
- 8 years ago
A deal between the EU and Turkey to stem the flow of refugees and migrants to Europe is hanging in the balance, over a decades-long dispute about the divided island of Cyprus.
At a summit in Brussels on Thursday night the EU agreed what it was ready to offer Turkey ahead of a meeting on Friday with Turkey’s prime minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu.
But the offer fell far short of Ankara’s demands, as Cyprus vowed to block any deal that would speed up Turkey’s EU accession.
“Negotiations will certainly be anything but easy,” said Germany’s chancellor Angela Merkel, after the talks finished at 12.30am.
Arriving for the talks on Friday, Davutoğlu said Ankara’s offer to curb the refugee flow to Europe was strictly a humanitarian rather than a “bargaining” issue.
At a summit in Brussels on Thursday night the EU agreed what it was ready to offer Turkey ahead of a meeting on Friday with Turkey’s prime minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu.
But the offer fell far short of Ankara’s demands, as Cyprus vowed to block any deal that would speed up Turkey’s EU accession.
“Negotiations will certainly be anything but easy,” said Germany’s chancellor Angela Merkel, after the talks finished at 12.30am.
Arriving for the talks on Friday, Davutoğlu said Ankara’s offer to curb the refugee flow to Europe was strictly a humanitarian rather than a “bargaining” issue.