EU's 'Visa-free Europe for Turks' statement: Shameful

A remarkable statement came from the European Union regarding visa liberalization. Head of the EU Delegation to Türkiye, Ambassador Thomas Hans Ossowski, said that requesting visas from Turks is unacceptable and shameful.

Ossowski, who met with Turkish journalists in Brussels, said that he encouraged the resumption of visa liberalization negotiations, but that there was a deadlock on the issue.

"THIS IS SHAMEFUL"

Ossowski said:

“You hear that Türkiye is the country that receives the most Schengen visas after China. But the current situation is not sustainable. Consulates are overflowing with visa requests from Turks. People sometimes have to wait a year. This is not sustainable. This is not acceptable in the strategic relations we want to establish with Turkey. This is shameful for all of us. That is why we must restart the visa liberalization process. We have presented a very honest offer to the Turkish government. Please, let's restart the negotiations. Turkey has fulfilled 66 out of 72 criteria. Let's work on the last six criteria. Because as you know, Turkey is the only EU candidate country that does not have visa-free travel. Even Kosovo, although it is not an official candidate country, has this right. Why can't Turks travel to the EU without a visa when Kosovo citizens can travel to the EU without a visa?”

"HOW IS IT NOT POSSIBLE TO TRAVEL WITHOUT A VISA IN Türkiye?"

Ambassador Ossowski stated that Georgia also has visa-free travel and said, "What's worse is that Venezuela is definitely not a model country in the world, it has visa-free travel with the EU and Schengen countries. Colombia is a country that is still struggling with drug problems, it has visa-free travel with the EU. How can Türkiye, a strategic partner, a very important NATO ally, not have visa-free travel? This is a situation that needs to be resolved urgently. But this requires political will on both sides. On our side and on the Turkish side. We have now renewed this proposal. Let's work on the remaining criteria. The current situation is not sustainable. Visa-free travel is required between the EU and Turkey. Of course, we are going visa-free, but the Turks should be able to do this too."

Stressing that the issue of visa liberalization has both technical and democratic dimensions, Ossowski said, “The criteria are about the Schengen states ensuring that certain standards are met, such as democratic principles, the rule of law and especially the Copenhagen criteria.”

"THE PROCESS MUST START AGAIN"

Ossowski, who said that the Turkish people's aim was to travel to Europe without visas and that they promised Türkiye about this in 2016, said, "The declaration was accepted in March 2016 and it was said that there would be visa-free travel by the end of June 2016. Maybe it was a little optimistic. Because it hasn't happened since then. But we have to talk. When I came to Türkiye last year, I was surprised to see that the visa liberalization discussions had completely stopped. I asked what was going on. 'Why aren't we talking about visas anymore?' They said, 'The Turkish government isn't talking to us about this.' So we said, 'Let's start over.' We will probably start technical discussions in September."

"Believe me, as the German Ambassador in Brussels, I will continue to work for visa-free travel for Turkish citizens to the Schengen states. I think this is very wrong at the moment," Ossowski said.

Source: ANKA