Turkey Must Cut Migrant Flows to Europe, Top EU Official Says
February 6, 2016
Europe
Turkey Must Cut Migrant Flows to Europe, Top EU Official Says
AMSTERDAM
— Europe needs Turkey to dramatically cut the number of migrants
reaching Greece within weeks or the pressure for more border closures
and fences will grow, the EU's top official in charge of ties with
Ankara warned on Saturday.
Frustrated
that refugees continue to stream into Greece despite a Nov. 29 deal
between Ankara and Brussels to slow down the flows, European
Commissioner Johannes Hahn said Turkey must show results by the time EU
leaders meet for a Feb. 18-19 summit.
"This
action plan was agreed more than two months ago and we are still not
seeing a significant decline in the number of migrants," Hahn, the EU's
enlargement commissioner, told Reuters after an EU foreign ministers'
meeting in Amsterdam attended by Turkey's foreign minister, Mevlut
Cavusoglu.
"Turkey
could do more, I have no doubt," Hahn said, adding that Ankara's need
to shift forces to curb violence in southeastern Turkey was "no excuse"
for not patrolling its western coast and cooperating with Greece.
The
European Commission, the EU executive, is set to publish on Wednesday a
report on Turkey's progress in implementing the migrant deal. While
Turkish police targeting people smugglers have made arrests and Turkey
has introduced a limited work-permit scheme for Syrian refugees, the
Commission report is likely to be critical.
"We
need results before the EU summit to show leaders that this is
working," Hahn said. "I am concerned there's not enough time."
More
than one million people arrived in Europe last year, fleeing war and
failing states in the Middle East and North Africa. Numbers show little
sign of falling, despite the winter.
Asked
to detail the cost of a failed deal with Turkey, Hahn said: "It
increases the pressure to find other solutions," referring to border
fences that go against EU rules on the freedom of its citizens to move
across frontiers to live and work.
Hahn's
warning of the consequences of inaction was highlighted by a call from
Hungary and Austria at the Amsterdam meeting for fences on the
Macedonian and Bulgarian borders with Greece and between Austria and
Slovenia to stop migrants.
Hahn
said if such fences were built it would only create a "domino effect"
with many EU nations closing their frontiers and putting at risk the
bloc's passport-free Schengen zone.
Six
Schengen members, including Germany and four other EU countries, have
resorted to reinstating temporary border checks in the passport-free
area. They can stay in place until May.
The
EU has agreed to give Turkey 3 billion euros ($3.2 billion) to keep
Syrian refugees on its soil in return for an acceleration of the EU
accession talks and speeded-up visa liberalisation for Turks visiting
Europe.
The
deal is contentious because while EU countries now recognise they need
strategically important Turkey, they are concerned about what they see
as President Tayyip Erdogan's growing authoritarianism.
(Reporting by Robin Emmott; Editing by Andrew Bolton)
COPY http://www.nytimes.com/
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