Brussels, 21/11/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 20 November, Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmström said that the dialogue on visa liberalisation would be able to start very soon. “Good meeting with (Turkish minister for foreign affairs) Egemen Bagis. We planned to start the dialogue on visa liberalisation very soon”, she said on Twitter. On his side, Commissioner for Enlargement Stefan Füle wanted the Commission to soon be able to establish a roadmap on visa liberalisation for Turkey, alongside the Turkish signature of the readmission agreement.
During his meeting with Bagis, Füle also called for new momentum in the accession negotiations. “If we both - Turkey and the EU - do our best, 2013 could be a promising year”, he explained, saying that the two parties clearly understand what is at stake and that they must work even harder to create dynamics “allowing us to reach our common goal”. Füle said that the positive agenda that was established in the spring is showing initial results.
The meeting between Füle and Bagis was the first since the Commission's progress report was published on 10 October - a report which Bagis had criticised harshly (see EUROPE 10708). (CG/transl.fl)