site.btaVarna Hosts EU-Turkey High-level Meeting

Brussels, March 26 (BTA corr. Nikolai Jeliazkov) - The Euxinograd Residence near the coastal city of Varna hosts a EU-Turkey leaders' meeting later in the day on Monday, the European Council said in a press release.

The meeting brings together Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, Boyko Borissov, Prime Minister of Bulgaria, and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkey.

This working dinner will be an occasion to assess matters of mutual interest and recent developments in Turkey, including the country's illegal actions in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea and its involvement in Syria.

At their last EU summit on 22-23 March, EU leaders called on Turkey to respect Cyprus' sovereign rights to explore and exploit its natural resources, in line with EU and international law. They also recalled Turkey's obligation to respect international law and good neighbourly relations, and normalize relations with all EU member states including the Republic of Cyprus. In addition, the European Union expressed its grave concern over the continued detention of EU citizens in Turkey. It called for the swift and positive resolution of these issues.

In Varna leaders will also discuss how to move the EU-Turkey relationship forward, on the basis of mutual respect and common interests.

The meeting will build on the previous leaders' meeting of 25 May 2017 and the discussions that have taken place since then.