EU Decides Additional 3 Billion Euro Support to Turkey for Refugee Agreement... Turkey Reacts

[Photo by Reuters-Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] The European Union (EU) decided to provide an additional 3 billion euros (approximately 4 trillion won) to Turkey from this year through 2024 in exchange for accepting Syrian refugees, but the Turkish government is expressing dissatisfaction.

The EU made this decision at the summit held on the 24th and 25th. However, on the 26th, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement expressing dissatisfaction with the additional 3 billion euros support.

In the statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs pointed out, "The new financial support plan is for Syrian refugees, not for Turkey," adding, "Ultimately, this is for the peace and security of the EU." It further stated, "Reducing cooperation on refugee issues solely to a financial level is a big mistake."

During the European refugee crisis of 2015-2016, when over one million refugees flooded into the European continent, the EU signed a refugee return agreement (refugee agreement) with Turkey in March 2016 to block the influx of refugees. The main content was that Turkey would accept refugees trying to go to Europe in exchange for receiving 6 billion euros (approximately 8 trillion won) from the EU.

After the agreement was signed, Turkey accepted about 4 million refugees, including 3.6 million Syrian refugees.

However, instead of transferring funds directly to the Turkish government, the EU chose to disburse funds through refugee support organizations in Turkey, and it did not implement visa exemptions for Turks. Turkey is demanding a revision of the agreement, claiming that the EU did not keep its promises.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.