Stating that he is cautiously optimistic about reaching a settlement on the EU and Turkey refugee crisis, the President of the European Council Donald Tusk said, “If I need to be fair, I am cautious rather than being optimistic.”
In his statement Tusk stated that the EU leaders at the Summit held yesterday agreed to strengthen their cooperation with Turkey. Indicating that difficult negotiations and talks are continuing, Tusk listed 3 major principles of the possible settlement as follows: “Firstly, the agreement should be approved by all 28 member countries. Secondly, the agreement should be compatible with EU and international laws and thirdly, the agreement should help to return to Schengen (removal of temporary controls), termination of the policy that sent refugees from one country to another, to provide humanitarian support to Greece, to support the West Balkan countries and provide support to the comprehensive strategy for strengthening cooperation with Turkey and also the agreement should help to solve the refugee crisis in an effective way.”