site.btaEuropean Council Does not Object to EU-Turkey Summit in Varna

Brussels, March 23 (BTA Correspondent Nikolay Jeliazkov) - The European Council did not object to the EU-Turkey summit during a meeting held here on Thursday night, diplomatic sources told BTA Friday. The EU-Turkey leaders' meeting is scheduled to take place on March 26 in the Bulgarian coastal city of Varna.

A month ago, EU state and government leaders said they will decide on whether a summit will be held immediately before the scheduled date, depending on how relations with Ankara develop. The meeting in Varna, which will be hosted by Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, will bring to the table European Council President Donald Tusk, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Borissov said on Thursday that tension and expectations are high on the eve of the summit, which aims to calm relations with Ankara and which he described as likely being one of the last opportunities to remain in dialogue. The Bulgarian Prime Minister explained that his goal is to have the EU-Turkey migration agreement continued, adding that he will also talk to Erdogan about the detained Greek soldiers in Turkey.

In the conclusions of its meeting on Thursday night, the European Council strongly condemned Turkey's continued illegal actions in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea and underlined its full solidarity with Cyprus and Greece, calling on Ankara to cease these actions and respect the sovereign rights of Cyprus to explore and exploit its natural resources in accordance with EU and International Law. The European Council also expressed its grave concern over the continued detention of EU citizens in Turkey, including two Greek soldiers, and called for the swift and positive resolution of these issues in a dialogue with Member States.