La UE cede al chantaje de Turquía: 6.000 millones, visas y aceleración de la adhesión

Shopping in a Turkish bazaar is never wise for the novice.

The EU learned that lesson the hard way when it discovered the carefully crafted refugee deal it believed it had sold to Turkish leaders in the run-up to Monday’s summit turned out to be little more than the beginning of the negotiation.

Turkey made Europe a counter offer early Monday that six months ago would have prompted EU negotiators to get up and walk out. To European eyes, the proposal Ankara put on the table read more like a ransom note: €3 billion in refugee aid in addition to the €3 billion already pledged, full-scale visa liberalization for Turkish citizens in the EU by June, an acceleration of Turkey’s application to join the bloc as well as a pledge to resettle many of the Syrian refugees Turkey takes in.

Turkey’s message to Europe was clear: You need us more than we need you.

That Europe is not just considering the Turkish proposal, but is likely to end up accepting most, if not all of it, is testament to the desperation of the Union and its largest member, Germany, to secure a deal to limit the flow of refugees and end a crisis that is testing EU solidarity like nothing in its history.

Angela Merkel, who sees a sweeping agreement with Turkey as the only viable way out of the quagmire, tried into the early hours of Tuesday to cajole her fellow leaders into accepting the framework. In the end, they agreed to delay a decision until the next regular EU summit, scheduled for next week.

What worried some in the room is that accepting the Turkish terms would set a dangerous precedent, signaling that the bloc’s core democratic principles are up for sale. Giving Ankara what it wants, just as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been tightening his grip on power, turning Turkey into what many consider a dictatorship, could do irreparable harm to the EU’s credibility, critics argue.

And yet for Europe, the likely alternative — the collapse of Europe’s open borders and public trust in its institutions — would be even worse.

Speaking after the summit, Merkel stressed that given the war in Syria and the “geostrategic” situation, a deal with Turkey is “absolutely in Europe’s interest.”

Convincing the rest of Europe won’t be easy.

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Los acuerdos principales, que han de ser ratificados en el próximo Consejo Europeo el 17-M, son los siguientes:


1 'Devolver todos los nuevos migrantes irregulares que cruzan de Turquía a las islas griegas con los gastos cubiertos por la UE'

2 'por cada sirio readmitido por Turquía de las islas griegas, otro sirio de Turquía será admitido en los Estados miembros de la UE'

3 'acelerar la liberalización de visados a los ciudadanos turcos ​​con todos los Estados miembros antes de finales de junio de 2016'

4 'acelerar el desembolso de los inicialmente asignados 3.000 millones de euros antes de fin de mes' y decidir los otros 3.000

5 'apertura de nuevos capítulos de las negociaciones de adhesión de Turquía a la UE tan pronto como sea posible'

Texto oficial del acuerdo