TODAY’S ZAMAN – Nov. 29, 2015 – The EU has pledged to pay more than $3billion, the lifting of visa requirements for travel to the EU as well as to speed up talks on accession to the European union in return for halting the flow of refugees to Europe as EU is seeking a solution to curb the recent flood of migrants to Europe.
EU president Donald Tusk said at the end of the four-hour summit Sunday that, after years of a standstill and sluggish progress at best, the membership drive should make quick progress.
“We agreed that (Turkey’s) accession process needs to be re-energised,” Tusk told a news conference with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker following a summit with the EU’s 28 heads of state and government.
Turkish Prime Minister Davutoğlu said “Turkish membership will be an asset” and added that “no disagreements emerged” during the meeting.
EU President Donald Tusk also saw the summit as a new starting point in relations.
Prime Minister Davutoğlu flew to Brussels on Sunday to meet with the 28 countries of the EU bloc, which needs Turkey’s cooperation to stem the flow of a crisis that is tearing the bloc apart following the arrival of close to a million migrants this year. Speaking to reporters in Ankara before his flight on Sunday, Davutoğlu called the summit “critical” in several respects including that of finding a common solution to the refugee crisis and giving impetus to Turkey’s accession talks to the EU.