The European Union should consider taking tougher action against Turkey, says EU President Charles Michel. “The game of cat and mouse must stop,” he said in the run-up to the EU summit, which will include discussions about Turkey’s behavior.
“We are ready to use whatever means we have” to call the Ankara government to order, Michel repeated, referring to the sanctions urged by Member States such as Greece.
The EU agreed to decide at Thursday’s summit whether Turkey has shifted its confrontational course enough or whether it is time for punitive action.
“In October, we made a very positive offer to Turkey,” says Michel. On the condition that Turkey would stop “one-sided provocations and hostile statements. Well, things haven’t gotten better since October.”
In recent days, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has spoken more positively about the EU than he did in the months before.
How to proceed with relations with Turkey is just one of the thorny issues that EU leaders are considering in Brussels next week. Also on the agenda are the budget and the corona recovery fund, the Brexit negotiations and stricter climate goals.
EU leaders must ‘look each other in the eye’
They cannot do that with video consultation, says Michel. Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his colleagues will travel to Brussels on Thursday, because “it is good to look each other in the eye”.
Even though the situation is still dire in some countries and strict corona rules apply almost everywhere. When it comes to precarious negotiations, it is important to meet physically, it often sounds in Brussels.
In recent weeks, the leaders of government and heads of state of the EU have consulted several times by video, including about the fight against the corona virus and about the attacks in France and Austria.
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