01:58Belgium: EU and Turkey agree €3bn package for Syrian refugees, confirms Tusk
President of the European Council Donald Tusk confirmed on Sunday that a “major step towards changing the rules of the game when it comes to stemming the migration flow that is coming to the EU via Turkey” is coming from a joint press conference with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker following the Heads of States of the European Union with Turkey meeting.
Tusk also confirmed that European Union will provide Turkey with a three-billion-euro ($3.2 billion) aid package in order to help finance the cost of hosting its population of refugees following the meeting of Heads of States of the European Union with Turkey in Brussels.
"Our agreements set out a clear plan for the timely re-establishment of all of our shared frontier. We will also step up our assistance to Syrian refugees and Turkey through a new refugee facility of three billion euros," he announced. Tusk also noted that securing EU external border "can and should only be done by Europeans." "But we expect a major step towards changing the rules of the game when it comes to stemming the migration flow that is coming to the EU via Turkey," he added.
Moreover, Tusk stressed that Turkey is not only a "key strategic partner for Europe" but "also a candidate country of the EU." "We agreed that accession process needs to be re-energised," he stated.
01:58President of the European Council Donald Tusk confirmed on Sunday that a “major step towards changing the rules of the game when it comes to stemming the migration flow that is coming to the EU via Turkey” is coming from a joint press conference with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker following the Heads of States of the European Union with Turkey meeting.
Tusk also confirmed that European Union will provide Turkey with a three-billion-euro ($3.2 billion) aid package in order to help finance the cost of hosting its population of refugees following the meeting of Heads of States of the European Union with Turkey in Brussels.
"Our agreements set out a clear plan for the timely re-establishment of all of our shared frontier. We will also step up our assistance to Syrian refugees and Turkey through a new refugee facility of three billion euros," he announced. Tusk also noted that securing EU external border "can and should only be done by Europeans." "But we expect a major step towards changing the rules of the game when it comes to stemming the migration flow that is coming to the EU via Turkey," he added.
Moreover, Tusk stressed that Turkey is not only a "key strategic partner for Europe" but "also a candidate country of the EU." "We agreed that accession process needs to be re-energised," he stated.