The presidents of the European Commission and European Council, Jean-Claude Juncker and Donald Tusk respectively, will meet US President Donald Trump and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Brussels on Thursday 25 May.
The meeting with Trump will be the first since he took up his post as president of the US. According to a diplomatic source, the meeting will only last an hour, and will be "without formal agenda". It will, however, be the opportunity to see in which areas the EU and US can cooperate, "as two pillars of the free world". The discussions could focus on trade, be this at multilateral or bilateral level, at a time when discussions on TTIP are currently on hold. The Paris Agreement on climate change and international issues might also be discussed, as might the possible ban on computers on transatlantic flights.
Juncker and Tusk will then meet Erdogan. This will be their first meeting since September 2016, and it will come at a time when relations between the EU and Ankara have greatly deteriorated following the failed coup in July 2016. "Turkey is a close EU partner and an accession candidate, but it is no secret that there are many concerns about its domestic developments", the same European source stated. It will not therefore be a question of business as usual, but of continuing to hold dialogue with Turkey, the source said. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)