EU looks for ‘strategic, forward-looking’ ties with Türkiye

BRUSSELS/BERLIN/ATHENS

EU leaders mandated on Friday the bloc’s foreign policy chief to draw a new report on EU-Türkiye relations based on “strategic and forward-looking” principles.

The 27 EU heads of state and government, who attended a two-day summit in Brussels, invited Josep Borrell and the European Commission to submit a report “on the state of play of EU-Türkiye relations” in the light of the recent general and presidential elections in Türkiye.

The document must build “on the instruments and options identified by the European Council, and with a view to proceeding in a strategic and forward-looking manner,” the summit’s conclusion said.

The EU leaders also called for a “speedy resumption of negotiations” under the UN framework for finding a “comprehensive settlement for the Cyprus problem.”

They reaffirmed the “EU membership perspective of the Western Balkans” but warned that a “failure to de-escalate tensions” in northern Kosovo “will have negative consequences” for both Kosovo and Serbia.

The EU summit also endorsed the bloc’s new China strategy announced by EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen last month that builds on “de-risking but not de-coupling.”

The EU and China will “continue to be important trade and economic partners” while the bloc will thrive for trade and economic relationship, which “is balanced, reciprocal and mutually beneficial.”

They also vowed to continue reducing “critical dependencies and vulnerabilities, including in its supply chains.”

'Opportunities for new and good cooperation between Türkiye, EU'

Speaking after the summit, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said leaders wanted to use the opportunities for new and good cooperation between the EU and Türkiye.

Saying that it was among agenda items during the summit, he noted they asked the EU Commission and the High Representative as a whole to make suggestions for the further development of mutual relations.

Mentioning that they had also discussions on Greece and Cyprus, Scholz said they hoped to give a new impetus to the Cyprus issue.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the EU could provide new financial support to Türkiye for tackling the migration issue.

Noting the decreasing number of irregular migration arrivals via boats to Greece, he cited the need to cooperate with North African countries and break trafficking networks.

Touching on a planned meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the upcoming NATO summit in Lithuania on July 11-12, Mitsotakis said it will be an opportunity to "chart a path of rapprochement."