EU-Turkey Deal: Commission Seeks 'Consensus' on Demands by Bulgaria, Cyprus

Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders (R) talks to German government`s Minister of State for European Affairs Michael Roth (L) at the start of an EU general affairs council at the European Council headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, February 16, 2016. Photo

The EU is working toward a "good deal" with Turkey by using a "constructive approach" in dialogue among member states, Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders has said.

Koenders, whose country holds the rotational Council of the EU Presidency, is referring to the forthcoming EU Summit on March 17-18 which is to end with an agreement on the conditions of a deal with Turkey to tackle the migrant influx into Europe.

Separately, EU Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans has asserted that the Commission finds Bulgaria and its Prime Ministrer's concerns about the forthcoming deal "legitimate".

Billions in funding are to be allocated to Turkey to make up for its expenses with regard to the migrant crisis, and a Syrian refugee is to be relocated to a EU member state for each economic migrant sent back to the country from Greece.

However, Bulgaria has repeatedly made clear it demands guarantees that its land and maritime borders with Turkey will also be protected from any possibility that an alternative route for migrants will be opened up by smugglers after the closure of the Western Balkans route.

Cyprus, for its part, objects to other EU members' promise to unlock five chapters as part of Turkey's process of accession into the bloc, and could also veto the deal.

EU Council President Donald Tusk earlier visited Cyprus to assure the country is "just as important" in the EU as Germany, France, the Netherlands, or "any other member state", public broadcaster BNR quotes him as saying.

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