Turks ask to join the EU together with the Balkan countries
The European Union should not consider the membership prospects of Turkey and the Western Balkans separately - Ankara called on the EU to eliminate the “artificial division”.
This was reported by Radio Liberty, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“All countries must be treated on an equal basis. We hope to see some positive steps taken in this direction to end the artificial division in the expansion policy between the Western Balkans and Turkey. Turkey is a Balkan country due to its history, culture and geography,” reads a letter from Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu to the new EU foreign policy chief Josep Borel.
The minister invited EU member states to express their views on Turkey's membership. Çavuşoğlu added that "the Turkish people still overwhelmingly believe in the EU project, but do not trust the EU due to double standards and discrimination against Turkey."
Turkey applied to join the European Economic Community, the predecessor of the European Union, in 1987 and began EU accession negotiations in 2005. These negotiations have stalled in recent years
Last October, at the initiative of French President Emmanuel Macron, the process of Albania and Macedonia joining the European Union was stopped. Nine EU countries then opposed the proposals of the French president.
The European Union is constantly delaying the accession deadline for Serbia. This is explained by the presence of an unresolved conflict with Kosovo (Serbia is thus forced to recognize the independence of its southern province).
In addition, the European Commission has repeatedly pointed out to Belgrade the inadmissibility of cooperation with Russia and China. The Serbian leadership has consistently rejected these claims.
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