Juncker dismisses calls to halt Turkey membership talks

Juncker dismisses calls to halt Turkey membership talks

Commission president rejects Austrian leader’s claim that talks were ‘fiction.’

By

Ivo Oliveira

8/4/16, 8:41 PM CET

http://www.politico.eu/article/juncker-dismisses-calls-to-halt-turkey-membership-talks-austria-christian-kern/

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker warned Thursday that it would be counterproductive to halt EU membership talks with Turkey.

Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern had said the negotiations were “diplomatic fiction.”

But Juncker told German public broadcaster ARD: “I don’t think it would be helpful if we were to unilaterally end negotiations with Turkey.”

He added that any such decision would need the support of all EU member countries and he doesn’t “see this willingness among all member states at this point in time” to stop the talks.

But the Commission president acknowledged that Turkey has work to do in order to meet membership conditions set by the bloc.

“Turkey cannot be a member of the European Union in its current state, and especially not if it decided, as some have warned, to reinstate the death penalty. That would lead to the immediate breaking off of negotiations,” he warned.

Authors:

Ivo Oliveira