Brussels, 09/12/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 8 December, Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Johannes Hahn expressed hope as regards opening an accession negotiation chapter with Turkey during the Lithuanian Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers (1 January - 30 June 2015).
“I am hopeful about the fact that it might be possible to open one or other chapter during the next Presidency”, he said during a press conference in Ankara, and he stated that it was important “always to be ambitious but also pragmatic”. Hahn said that there was some movement in the attempts to relaunch the negotiation process. “Things are progressing in the right direction”, he said, adding that there was some progress and signs from certain member states. Nevertheless, a Cypriot official told EUROPE that the Republic of Cyprus would not give its agreement to opening a chapter until Turkey respected Cyprus' exclusive economic zone and sovereign rights.
Hahn recalled that the accession negotiations were a “process”. “The new Commission is ready to speed things up with Turkey”, he said. He called for more reforms on the rule of law and said he wanted economic relations between the EU and Turkey to be closer.
“We must deepen our cooperation - not only on our interests but also on our common challenges (…) We must work together - now and increasingly so”, said High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini. She highlighted, for example, the need to work together on the Syrian crisis, to take the issue “at the root” in order to find a solution. She also said that she had talked with her Turkish partners about foreign fighters, underlining that it was in the interest of both Turkey and the EU to be well coordinated on this issue.
Discussions also covered TTIP and the Turkish concerns about it, and visa liberalisation. Mogherini recalled the importance of the Kurdish peace process and the resumption of the dialogue for a solution to the Cypriot crisis.
Fresh humanitarian support. On 9 December, Mogherini announced fresh humanitarian aid of €10 million for Turkey and Syria via the cross-border assistance by Turkey. These funds will help the refugees living outside the camps with assistance programmes in cash, material assistance for new arrivals and for health care. A new package of €70 million is also due to be adopted at the start of 2015. Since the beginning of the Syrian crisis, the EU had released €187.5 million to help the refugees in Turkey. (CG)