Merkel-Borisov Agenda Skips Turkey's EU Membership

Bulgaria's PM Borisov (right) is pictured here taking German Chancellor Merkel to the Bulgarian Presidency. Photo by BGNES

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has made it clear Turkey's potential EU accession was not on the agenda of her meeting with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov in Sofia.

"We talked about bilateral affairs, not about Turkey's EU accession. We hardly started to talk about the EU prospects of the Western Balkans," Merkel told journalists in Sofia during her joint news conference with Borisov.

The question about Turkey's potential EU accession made headlines in both Bulgaria and German over the past week as Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited first Sofia and then Berlin.

In Sofia, Bulgarian PM Borisov vowed support for Turkey's EU accession, which led to negative reactions on part of nationalist formations. Prior to their meeting, Erdogan said Bulgaria should not "put a price" on Turkey's EU membership.

On the one hand, the marginal VMRO party, which has collected 330 000 signatures demanding a referendum on Turkey's EU future, reacted strongly threatening mass protests, and on the other, the nationalist party Ataka, which is the most important informal coalition partner of Borisov's ruling center-right party GERB, staged an appearance in Parliament with special T-shirts, and threatened to back out of supporting the Cabinet.

As Turkish PM Erdogan was visiting Berlin at the end of last week, a public opinion poll revealed that two-thirds of the Germans opposed Turkey's EU membership.

Erdogan has often complained of unfair treatment of Turkey by Brussels with respect to the criteria and negotiations for EU membership.

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