The European Parliament has suspended its work in granting Turkish citizens visa-free travels to the European Union, citing Ankara’s lack of meeting all the criteria necessary for the changes, the EU observer reported Wednesday.
No visa liberalization w/o Turkey meeting critiera, eg re overbroad anti-terrorism law: MEPs https://t.co/H5qFcKoM2C pic.twitter.com/EDnkTNPDkZ
— Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) 11 мая 2016 г.
“Turkey has made impressive progress but there is still work to be done” – @TimmermansEU https://t.co/N2hIMzEMOQ https://t.co/NBBi7A4ubw — European Commission (@EU_Commission) 4 мая 2016 г.
”[EU Parliament Chief Martin] Schulz said we will only start processing the file when the 72 criteria have been met,” Judith Sargentini, a Dutch member of the European Parliament was quoted as saying by the news portal.
Most of the requirements have already been fulfilled by Ankara, though five problematic criteria remain, including the revision of Turkey’s national anti-terrorism laws and freedom of the press.