“We are still far from this. It depends on the progress of the negotiations”, she said on-air of the French radio station France Inter, responding to a question on the timing of Turkey’s accession to the EU.
She noted that the Balkan countries are negotiating for many years, but “still are far from accession”. “I am convinced that the negotiations with Turkey on accession to the EU is the only way to help Turkey to modernize the state, respect fundamental rights, including freedom of the media and freedom of speech”, stated Mogherini.
Currently the EU provided the status of candidates to join to six countries: Albania, Iceland, Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey and Montenegro. The government of Iceland announced the withdrawal of the application for the EU membership.
Following the summit in November last year, the European Union and Turkey have announced the launch of a new phase of talks on Ankara’s admission to the EU.
At the same time Minister of Turkey for European Union Affairs Volkan Bozkır in December announced the opening of the item on financial and credit policy in preparation for EU accession from the EU side.
Negotiations on Turkey’s accession to the EU has repeatedly raveled with disagreements that led to their suspension. The main obstacle is Turkey’s position on the Cyprus issue. An important step towards the abolition of visas between Turkey and the EU was the signing of a readmission agreement in December 2013 (state’s consent to accept its citizens deported from other countries).