FPÖ Emphasizes No to EU Membership for Turkey
"If a head of state who has repeatedly pressured and blackmailed the EU in the past can present himself as a stability factor, then something is fundamentally wrong," said FPÖ-EU delegation leader Harald Vilimsky in a statement on Wednesday.
On Monday, Erdogan said at a press conference that only Turkey could "save" the EU from its current economic and security policy difficulties, for example through its large army and young workforce. "This is only possible with full EU membership for Turkey," said Erdogan.
FPÖ Against Candidate Status
For Vilimsky, the statements of the Turkish president are a sign of "how weak and directionless the EU has become." He recalled that Turkey, for example, uses its position in the migration crisis "to exert pressure on the EU."
"Instead of adhering to agreements, new demands are constantly being made while the EU continues to appease. Those who act in this way cannot become part of the European Union. Brussels must finally send a clear signal and end Turkey's candidate status," Vilimsky reiterated a long-standing demand of the FPÖ.
Turkey EU Candidate
Turkey has been an official EU candidate since 1999, and accession talks began six years later. The first chapter in the negotiations was concluded under the Austrian EU presidency in 2006. However, the talks have been frozen for years after Erdogan adopted an increasingly authoritarian course following a failed military coup in 2016. Additionally, Ankara does not recognize the territorial integrity of the EU state Cyprus and supports the separatist Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus with its own soldiers, effectively occupying EU territory.
(APA/Red)
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