Turkish PM issues EU visa ultimatum

Turkey's prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu warned on 18 April 2016 the migrant swap deal with the European Union risked collapse unless visa restrictions were lifted on Turkish nationals by June as planned.

The statement came ahead of a meeting in Strasbourg on the following day between Mr Davutoglu and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker at the assembly of the Council of Europe.

The deal agreed with EU leaders in March 2016 included deporting irregular migrants to Turkey, while for every one person deported from Greece, a member state would voluntarily resettle a Syrian refugee from Turkey. In exchange, Turkey requested to open up new negotiation chapters for EU accession, receive some €6 billion of EU funds for Syrian refugees, and have short-term visas wavered on visiting Turks before the end of June.

During a speech at the Council of Europe, Mr Juncker insisted that Turkey must meet all the necessary criteria for visa-free travel in Europe. The European Commission further announced on 20 April that it would propose to give visa-free travel to Turkey on 4 May if the country fulfilled all the necessary benchamrks.

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