EPP leader Weber insists no EU membership for Turkey
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Manfred Weber, the leader of the European People’s Party (EPP), insisted that Turkey cannot become a member of the European Union, in an interview with Euronews.
Weber, tipped to replace Jean-Claude Juncker as European Commission President, told Euronews , that in Turkey’s case he believes in having strong relations but added that Turkey cannot become a member of the EU.
Weber is the leading candidate for the centre-right EPP in next month’s European Parliament elections.
Turkey has officially been a candidate to join the EU since 1999. Accession negotiations started in October 2005 but stalled in 2016 after the two parties reached a deal on migrants and refugees despite accelerated membership negotiations being one of the conditions.
The EU also granted visa-free access to the bloc to Turkish citizens and agreed to a €3 billion financial aid to deal with the crisis.
Earlier this year, the EU said that Turkey’s desire to join the bloc needs to be matched by corresponding reforms and that the country has been moving further away from the European Union.
It criticised the continuing and deeply worrying backsliding in the areas of fundamental rights and the rule of law as well as the “deterioration of the independence and functioning of the judiciary.
Weber, who launched his campaign plan for the European elections from Athens, Greece, on Tuesday, also pledged to fight against nationalism “from the left and from the right” because it will create no future for all of us, he told Euronews.
He said his campaign plan is based on a “listening tour” he conducted across Europe and consists of changes in areas such as security, rule of law, and job creation.
Weber said he would “fight against nationalists who want to destroy Europe” and work to “completely remove anti-Semitism from the continent”.
