An EU spokesman on Sunday denied media reports from the previous day that claimed the bloc had agreed to massive new cuts to pre-accession aid to Turkey.
Germany’s Funke Media Group had said it saw a letter from the bloc’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, announcing a 75% cut to the funds Ankara receives as a prospective EU member via the “Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA).”
“Borrell did not send a letter addressed to the European Parliament allegedly announcing further cuts of IPA funding to Turkey,” read a statement by Peter Stano, Brussels’ lead spokesperson for foreign affairs and security policy.
Stano said that the media organization was perhaps confused by a letter sent to a member of the European Parliament after they had submitted a question about the aid.
“All media interpretations linking the facts and figures mentioned in the parliamentary reply to the current events or even to today’s Libya conference are completely wrong and misleading,” Stano continued.
He added that cuts had already taken place — first in 2017, and again last October.
“There is no new or recent decision by the EU budgetary authority on pre-accession reorientation, other than the decisions taken last year and which have been announced and clarified already on numerous occasions.”
