Türkiye and the European Union mutually need each other for various reasons and it is disheartening to see no progress being made in accession negotiations, the Lead Spokesperson for foreign affairs and security policy of the European Commission said Monday.
Speaking to Turkish journalists in Brussels wearing a t-shirt with the Turkish flag, Peter Stano said the bloc is aware that it needs Türkiye.
“Türkiye needs Europe and Europe needs Türkiye because we are stronger together,” Stano said.
He continued by expressing his frustration about not seeing any progress on accession negotiations.
However, he claimed that the union's approach is shaped by principles and values and that there can be no progress if there is no consensus between the parties.
On how accession negotiations with Türkiye have been effectively frozen for years, Stano called this a "sad state of affairs because Türkiye is important for the region and the union."
Asked why Türkiye is being treated merely like a neighboring country rather than a candidate for full membership, he said, "I see nothing wrong in approaching Türkiye as a neighbor country,” calling being a neighbor to Türkiye a "privilege."
On restarting the stalled negotiations, Stano said doing so would require the approval of all member states, including Greek Cypriot administration.
He said the Cyprus issue remains a major hurdle to the improvement of relations, urging Türkiye to recognize the Greek Cypriot administration to get things back on track with the bloc.
Ankara doesn’t recognize the Greek Cypriot administration, which controls the southern part of the island, as a state. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and Türkiye have said there can now only be a two-state solution and negotiations cannot restart without recognizing the “sovereign equality and equal international status” of the Turkish Cypriots.
Türkiye applied for EU membership in 1987 and has been a candidate country since 1999.
Türkiye has been a candidate for EU membership for more than two decades, but talks stalled in 2016 over what Ankara says is the bloc’s “insistence on politicizing the issue.”
The division of the island of Cyprus between its Greek and Turkish Cypriot populations, a source of friction between Greece and Türkiye, has also been made an impediment by the EU.
Efforts to reunify the Mediterranean island, which has been divided since 1974 following a Turkish military operation as a guarantor power of the island against a Greek military coup and annexation, have been at a standstill since the last round of U.N.-backed talks collapsed in 2017.
