Monday, June 24, 2013 - 08:50
Critical EU decision on Turkey
Today, June 24, the European Union will discuss issues on Turkey after the setbacks. The 27 nations wanted to change Germany’s position, which is firm in stopping negotiations in response to Ankara’s attack on protestors.
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Eric Borda/flickr The EU will discuss about Chapter 22, regional policies after the three-year postponements. Germany decided to halt the chapter’s opening for domestic political reasons, bringing a gap within the EU countries. Netherlands and Austria are in agreement on this chapter; however, majority of the other countries disapproved and requested the EU not to obstruct the opening of the chapter on regional policies. The UK, France, Spain, Poland, and Italy have convinced Germany to cancel the EU’s position on Turkey completely. EU sources say the foreign ministers of the 27-nation union will also gather today although the disagreement over Turkey was not included on the agenda of the meeting. It appears that the decision was made on purpose to give the nations the chance to talk privately. “If the issue was put on the agenda of the ministers, that would have put the whole problem under the spotlight and the positions could have become more entrenched,” an EU official who asked to remain anonymous told the Hürriyet Daily News. Member countries in efforts to persuade Germany said that the EU could only deal with the matter in Turkey by staying engaged with Ankara.
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Eric Borda/flickr The EU will discuss about Chapter 22, regional policies after the three-year postponements. Germany decided to halt the chapter’s opening for domestic political reasons, bringing a gap within the EU countries. Netherlands and Austria are in agreement on this chapter; however, majority of the other countries disapproved and requested the EU not to obstruct the opening of the chapter on regional policies. The UK, France, Spain, Poland, and Italy have convinced Germany to cancel the EU’s position on Turkey completely. EU sources say the foreign ministers of the 27-nation union will also gather today although the disagreement over Turkey was not included on the agenda of the meeting. It appears that the decision was made on purpose to give the nations the chance to talk privately. “If the issue was put on the agenda of the ministers, that would have put the whole problem under the spotlight and the positions could have become more entrenched,” an EU official who asked to remain anonymous told the Hürriyet Daily News. Member countries in efforts to persuade Germany said that the EU could only deal with the matter in Turkey by staying engaged with Ankara.