On Wednesday 7 November, the European Commission distanced itself from the words of Commissioner for Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn, who has called for an end to the accession negotiations with Turkey.
"The College's decision is that the accession negotiations must be maintained", Commission spokesperson Margaritis Schinas stated.
He said that the Commission's official position was expressed by its president, Jean-Claude Juncker. At the EU-Turkey summit in Varna last March, Juncker said he was against "this simple, superficial and sometimes demagogic and populist idea that we should break off the negotiations with Turkey" (see EUROPE 11990). These negotiations are currently on ice.
In an interview published in German daily newspaper Die Welt on 6 November, Hahn said that "in the long term, it would be more honest for Turkey and the EU to follow a new direction and end accession talks". In his view, the accession negotiations, which began in 2005, are blocking the path to a "realistic strategic partnership".
The Austrian government, whose Chancellor Sebastian Kurz is EPP, as is Hahn, has repeatedly spoken in favour of stopping the accession negotiations. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)