EU strikes migrant deal with Turkey

In return for taking back refugees, Turkey is promised “re-energised” talks on its EU membership.

“The Turkey deal was approved,” Finland’s prime minister Juha Sipila wrote on Twitter.

The deal has to be approved by leaders of all 28 EU member states.

The EU has also agreed to speed up the disbursement of €3 billion aid for refugees in Turkey.

The agreement is important for both sides, said Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė on Friday.

“This agreement is necessary and equally important for both sides, Europe and Turkey. The cost of it is very important as it’s the first attempt to find a way to stop the biggest inflow of illegal migrants,” she said in a statement ahead of the European Council‘s negotiations with Turkey.

According to the Lithuanian president, although this solution covers only one migrant path from Turkey to Greece, and then further to Western Europe, it can be a symbolic example of how Europe can deal with the migration crisis.