BRUSSELS (Realist English). European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen believes that Turkey is now much more distant from joining the European Union than 23 years ago.
Commenting on the decision of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan not to apply European sanctions against Russia, she noted that consistency is important in the accession process. According to her, Ankara’s unwillingness largely indicates a lack of readiness to join the EU.
The President of the European Commission stated that “the accession process is based on merit, because it is largely in the hands of the applicant country.”
“Slovakia wanted wanted wanted to join the European Union,” von der Leyen said, “and had a huge unity in the country. It took them five years and they were members. Turkey is today further away from the European Union than it was in ’99. Therefore, this is a proof that there is no automaticity. There is not a rigid pattern. But it’s up to the country — we support if necessary — but it’s up to the country to prove that they are fit for accession.”
“Slovakia really wanted to join the European Union, there was a huge unity in the country. It took them five years and they became members. Turkey is further away from the European Union today than in 1999. Therefore, this is proof that there is no automatism. There is no rigid scheme. But it depends on the country — we support it if necessary — but it depends on the country to prove that it is suitable for joining,” Politico quotes her as saying.
At the beginning of the year, Erdogan said that Turkey, despite all the problems in relations with Europe, continues to see membership in the bloc as its strategic priority.
Turkey received the status of an EU candidate in 1999, having applied for membership in 1987. Official negotiations between Ankara and Brussels began in 2005, but then were actually frozen due to Turkey’s unwillingness to meet the necessary criteria. Ankara calls this a political decision of the EU and demands an “honest approach”.
