Migration
showdown
EU foreign ministers meet in Croatia today to complete the final set
of emergency meetings to discuss the Greece-Turkey migrant flare-up this week,
writes Mehreen Khan in Zagreb.
By Sam
Fleming and Jim Brunsden in Brussels
March 6,
2020
The
gathering comes hot on the heels of a six-hour meeting between Turkey’s Recep
Tayyip Erdogan and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, where the Kremlin chief said he was
willing to agree a temporary ceasefire in the war-torn Syrian region of Idlib.
(NYT, FT) The accord will be welcomed by EU leaders who are on high alert over
an escalating civil war that will further displace Syrians who could eventually
end up at Europe’s borders. Josep Borrell, Brussels’ top diplomat, yesterday
warned the EU was “at the beginning of a migration crisis”.
As for
today, foreign ministers are likely to sign off on a joint statement that has
been the source of diplomatic wrangling between Greece and Germany for the last
week. Athens has pushed for the toughest possible condemnation of Erdogan for
encouraging Syrians to go to Europe and what it sees as Turkey’s malign role in
Syria. Berlin has urged caution, recognising that Erdogan’s cooperation is
crucial in staving off another wave of migrants to Europe.
A draft
version of the EU statement, seen by the FT, repeats “strong rejection” of Turkey’s
actions. Ministers will now have to decide on how to call on Erdogan to keep
respecting the terms of a 2016 EU-Turkey agreement, including whether or not
they are willing to give Ankara more financial support under the deal.
Meanwhile
the FT reports this morning on why Europe and almost all its mainstream leaders
and the commission have hardened their stance on migration so markedly.
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