EU works on simplifying visa regime with Turkey

The European Union is working on liberalizing the visa regime with Turkey.

This was reported by the European publication Politico, citing sources.

According to its data, the topic was discussed during a trip to Ankara by the head of the European diplomatic service Kaja Kallas, European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos, and European Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner, where they held talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

Earlier, the head of the Turkish Foreign Ministry noted that Ankara expects Brussels to improve relations "on the basis of objective criteria and merits and without any discrimination," and also emphasized that EU membership remains a "strategic goal" for Turkey.

Nine countries have candidate status. These are Turkey, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia. All of them have difficulties on this path, but Turkey's EU accession process has dragged on the longest. The country signed an Association Agreement with the EU back in 1963, the application for accession was submitted in 1987, and candidate status was obtained in 1999. Negotiations on accession began in 2005, but they were obstructed by some countries. For example, France and Germany believe that Turkey cannot become an EU member due to the significant role of the army in politics, as well as non-compliance with key principles such as freedom of speech. In addition, Turkey still has an unresolved territorial conflict with Cyprus, a member of the European Union. Thus, the negotiations have practically reached a dead end and the prospect of their completion is not visible at the moment.

Source: TASS