It’s certainly the biggest day in the political life of Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. Aware that his country holds the key to the Refugee Crisis – and keep sending a thousand per day to Greece-, top bargainer of 2016, Ahmet Davutoglu plays with the European leaders the way he can do best: reading out of his long Wish List and awaiting for reactions. In-between, he picks a tiny piece of fish, sips in his coffee, grabs a syrup-soaked baklava-corner or he prepares himself for dinner.
After the EU Leaders – Turkey working lunch, EUCO president Donald Tusk announced a …working dinner with Davutoglu later today. Once in Brussels, the Turkish PM will not miss the chance and he will meet also with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg apparently to have a little face to face chat on this incredible statement of Stoltenberg that the NATO ships will sail wherever they want, incl the Turkish territorial waters.
Just finalised arrangements to expand #NATO deployment to #Aegean to assist w/ migrant and refugee crisis. https://t.co/PpeOgukDwf
— Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) March 6, 2016
Why all this trouble? The Turkish PM allegedly flew to Brussels with “new ideas” and he was not content with what they had agreed end November 2015.
According to Reuters, Davutoglu’s new ideas were “going beyond Ankara’s commitments so far to curb a flood of migrants to Europe.”
“They are offering more and demanding more,” an EU official told Reuters after the working lunch was over. Turkey reportedly wants:
more than the 3 billion euros pledged so far in aid for Syrian refugees on its soil – [Greek media reported in the morning Turkey wanted 9 billion euro, Austrian media of 3bn each year for 5 years]
an immediate speeding up of its EU accession talks
bringing forward visa-free travel for Turks to Europe to this spring [original road map: October 2016]
In return, Ankara was ready to take back non-Syrian migrants refused asylum in Europe in addition to those stopped in Turkish territorial waters, the EU official said.
Greek state TV reported at 6 pm that the original 9 billion wnt down to 6 and that Turkey also demanded that the money will be given to the state and not to NGO – as in the case of Greece.
In a rare sense of humor – because I don’t think he was saying this seriously, Davutoglu told reporters in Brussels:
Turkish PM Davutoglu: "Turkey is ready to work with EU and be a member of EU" #Turkey #migrantcrisis pic.twitter.com/6peBw3kyEp
— Derek Gatopoulos (@dgatopoulos) March 7, 2016
It must have been a kind of Turkish joke when one takes into consideration the brutal and undemocratic crackdown on media the duet Erdogan-Davutoglu staged in recent days and weeks.
On the other hand, the Turkish PM might be right…
Can we talk about democracy and values in Europe nowadays, especially with the rise of xenophobia and right-extremism? I doubt it…
While Davutoglu and EU leaders run from dinner to lunch and from lunch to dinner… this refugee kid is still in Idomeni – living a chilly outdoor life in a carton.
This kid was not invited to Euro lunch or dinner.
the picture was taken Sun or Sat, I think
PS at the end, Davutoglu would possibly return to Ankara with a twisted stomach than with 3 billion euro in his pockets.
9 billion dollars?! What if they sink some boats and this deters the rest from coming? How many poor Europeans could be fed with that money?
I doubt that this agreement will be allowed by the European Court of Justice. It has already blocked a trade agreement with Morocco on the basis of international law and Morocco’s claim to Western Sahara. It will likely block an agreement with Turkey that does not include the right to asylum for all persons reaching EU territory. It will certainly block it if Turkey commits any atrocities or human rights violations relating to refugees.
Sorry Xenos I think you are too confidant.
And they are running scared. Morocco is not in this tea party and Turkey is no.1 NATO asset at the moment….from Gen. Breedlove’s POV.
If you wanna sink boats do it on yourself and have fun the next 25 years in Koridallos, everything what happened the last 6 years in Greece shows you perfectly that even without refugees the frat pigs will never give the poor, just like in most other European countries too and in most cases this is also one good reason why really poor people try to help and others start killing foreigners because they believe they get into trouble to afford themselves more beer and smoke they think they deserve a right for to consume. And for Greece btw the refugees hunger-strike of the 300 some years ago was a little victory not only for refugees but also for normal workers who since then needed to bring less stamps to receive their small unemployed-allowance.
9 billion euros.
We are in Europe not Washington DC.
I see that the mainstay of EU policy, Mr Tsipras has got all his own way, once again for the Greek people. You voted to stay in the EU, why have complaints now? You didn’t see it coming?
One thing is for sure, if Greece would have left the Eurozone last summer the problems now to face would be much more difficult, if not unbearable, there would have been not enough money f.e. to lease any ferries.
Just ask KKE they will explain it to you or go into the next record store, as importing records from overseas would be cheaper than made in Europe but both unbearable, this is only one example but to go on with it you wouldn’t been able to pay the pressing plants in Eastern Europe if you would run a record company in Greece and this would mean that some hundreds bands and musicians in Greece wouldn’t have brought out any records this year.
Agreed.
I agree on that C Sanford – but – EU & NATO are two branches of the same tree along with GATT, World Bank & dear old IMF. Much as we’d like to “moutsa” the whole lot, they would show no mercy in punishing annoying little hamster Greece. Remember we’re only in this club (along with Turkey) because both countries control Russia’s egress to the Med.
Location, location, location!
Not bad – 15 bn according to Austria. That means, structural funds and all cosy Framework programmes will go to Turkey. Not much to do in EU for EU-13.
And it is not clear if Greece will be really rescued.
sorry but you have 1. no idea what you’re talking about 2. no idea how this aid mechanism works
He is actually completely clueless! I had not realised how badly informed and ridiculous some of these neo-liberalized Nazi-Stalinists are.
you’re long enough on internet, aren’t you?
True! But even so, I mean… you expect some sort of crude grasp of how things work, even if their views are plain loopy.
Bild has named Greece Super-Hotspot
deep in its heart Bild is Latvian
I always thought it was North Korean, translated into poor German.
So now we understand why all German and Austrian tourists with BILD in their hands were acting so weird today, Orban wants visafree Ukrainans instead of Russians
If the Greece will say fuck EUR, what the EU will be doing, when they will loss infinite leverage over GR?
Nothing, Greece has more tanks than Europe and if this is still not enough to shut up her best buddy Israel gots nukes
There is quite good medical treatment for brain lesions in western Europe now. It’s not necessary for Latvians to suffer with your conventional remedies of hot poultices, leeches and rubber-lined “treatment rooms”.
I think ole Latvian here hasn’t been “diagnosed” yet.
The EU should make some haggling and accept the Turkish conditions, after some thinking. The conditions are not outside of reality. Maybe instead of 6 billion euro – 5,6 or 7,6 billion would work (dependent on who haggles more) – but anyway … The wave of migrants should be stopped, because the EU is fighting for its survival now.
Somebody can say : ex-communist countries do not accept refugees/migrants, they are xenophobic… I would partially agree. But France, Netherlands, UK do not look extremely enchanted, either. Time to finish the story…
Why bother haggling at all is beyond me when all Draghi need do is “bing” out more paper and shift it to the “Assets” column. As with Greece’s 420 bn.
Its only secondarily about money.
But I’ll bet Latvian here will feel immediate “pain” in his pocketbook lol