After the 2015 migration crisis, the European Union concluded a pact with Ankara under which Turkey would retain migrants on its soil, in return for a heavy financial compensation.
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The Vice-President of the European Commission, Margaritis Schinas, said on Saturday October 7 in Thessaloniki (Greece) that he was in favor of“an upgrade” of the pact between the EU and Turkey concluded in 2016 to deal with the migration crisis at the time. Welcoming the agreement on migration reform reached at the European summit on Wednesday in Granada, Spain, he also underlined the need for the EU to have “good relations” with “the countries from which arrive or transit” migrants, such as West African countries, Tunisia, Egypt or Turkey.
“With Turkey, we have had a partnership relationship on immigration since 2016” that “we want to refresh and improve considering current conditions” concerning the increase in the number of arrivals in Europe, he said after a meeting of Migration Ministers from five southern Mediterranean countries, Greece, Spain, Italy, Cyprus and Malta.
The subject discussed by Greece and Turkey in December
After the 2015 migration crisis, the EU, under pressure, above all, from former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, concluded a pact with Ankara according to which Turkey retains migrants, mainly Syrians, on its soil, in return for a heavy compensation. financial. The Greek Minister of Migration, Dimitris Kairidis, declared at the end of September that his country, which borders Turkey, “had immediate interest” to work for “amend” And “extend” the 2016 pact. This subject will be discussed during a meeting on December 7 between senior Greek and Turkish officials in Thessaloniki.