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04-29-2016, 04:44 PM
BRUSSELS: The deputy head of the European Commission insisted on Thursday that the EU executive would **t lower its standards to offer visa-free travel to Turks in the coming weeks as part of a deal to stem migration.
“We will **t play around with those benchmarks,” First Vice President Frans Timmermans told the European Parliament, referring to 72 criteria Turkey must meet if its citizens are to be allowed to travel to the EU without obtaining a visa first.
“The onus is on Turkey,” he said. “They say they can do it.”
The Commission is due to decide on Wednesday whether to recommend to member states to grant by the end of June the visa waiver scheme which the bloc offered Ankara as part of a deal in March by which Turkey is **w taking back refugees and migrants who reach Greek islands from its shores.
Timmermans **ted concerns raised by lawmakers during the session about curbs on media freedoms and human rights in Turkey but argued that opening further discussions on eventual Turkish membership of the EU -- a**ther element of the migrant deal -- would be a way to engage Ankara and convince it to change tack. “If they want to come close to the European Union so badly let them prove that they can,” the former Dutch foreign minister said.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/World-TheNewsInternational/~4/l8bhSj9lKMg
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“We will **t play around with those benchmarks,” First Vice President Frans Timmermans told the European Parliament, referring to 72 criteria Turkey must meet if its citizens are to be allowed to travel to the EU without obtaining a visa first.
“The onus is on Turkey,” he said. “They say they can do it.”
The Commission is due to decide on Wednesday whether to recommend to member states to grant by the end of June the visa waiver scheme which the bloc offered Ankara as part of a deal in March by which Turkey is **w taking back refugees and migrants who reach Greek islands from its shores.
Timmermans **ted concerns raised by lawmakers during the session about curbs on media freedoms and human rights in Turkey but argued that opening further discussions on eventual Turkish membership of the EU -- a**ther element of the migrant deal -- would be a way to engage Ankara and convince it to change tack. “If they want to come close to the European Union so badly let them prove that they can,” the former Dutch foreign minister said.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/World-TheNewsInternational/~4/l8bhSj9lKMg
أكثر... (http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/World-TheNewsInternational/~3/l8bhSj9lKMg/116159-Tough-standards-for-Turks-visa-free-travel)