EU UNSATISFIED WITH TURKEY’S REFUGEE COOPERATION

Istanbul, 27 Rabi’ul Awwal 1437/7 January 2015 (MINA) – Syrian civil warThe EU is far from satisfied with Turkey’s cooperation in stemming the flow of refugees to Europe after a deal clinched late last year, European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans said Thursday.

“We have seen the first results which are encouraging, but we are a long way from being satisfied,” Timmermans told a press conference in Amsterdam at the launch of the Netherlands’ six-month EU presidency, World Bulletin quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

“We will continue discussing ways of improving the effectiveness of their cooperation.”

Timmermans acknowledged that the number of refugees travelling in the last couple of weeks via Turkey the main launching point for mainly Syrian refugees travelling to Europe remains relatively high.

Timmermans, a former Dutch foreign minister who has led the EU talks with Ankara, said he will travel to Turkey next Sunday to discuss the implementation of a joint action plan agreed last November.

Under the plan, EU leaders pledged three billion euros ($3.2 billion) in aid for the more than two million refugees currently sheltering on Turkish soil from the Syrian civil war.

The EU also agreed to kickstart stalled talks on Turkey’s push for EU membership and end the visa requirement for Turkish visitors to the EU’s passport-free Schengen zone.

In return, Turkey vowed to take steps to halt the refugee outflow, including cracking down on people smugglers and cooperating with the EU on taking back economic refugees who do not qualify as refugees.

More than one million refugees have flooded Europe’s shores this year, most of them crossing from Turkey to Greece, in the biggest crisis of its kind the continent has faced since World War II.

Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, said his priorities for his country’s EU presidency were to lower the numbers of refugees entering Europe and ensure EU member states share the burden fairly.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said he was confident that the Dutch presidency would fulfil an EU plan to set up a pan-European border and coast guard force to protect the bloc’s external border by the time its mandate ends on June 30. (T/P006/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)