MINISTER BAGIS HOLDS OFFICIAL TALKS IN BRUSSELS

Aiming to hold talks regarding Turkey’s EU accession process, Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis paid a visit to Brussels and met with Hannes Swoboda, President of the group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats. 

The statement released after the meeting emphasized the EP Socialist Group’s ongoing support to Turkey and included Swoboda’s opinions as “Negotiations with Turkey need a fresh new start, especially in the areas of energy and justice. We have to strengthen our alliance with Turkey, which is located at a very challenging and fragile region.”

After his meeting with Swoboda, Bagis came together with Ria Oomen-Ruijten, the European Parliament's Turkey Rapporteur and indicated his pleasure on Ria Oomen-Ruijten’s fair and balanced attitude in the progress report and said “You report not only what is being presented to you, but also what you recognize with a clear conscience.”

Under the framework of contacts in Brussels, Minister Bagis also came together with Martin Schulz, the President of the European Parliament, with whom he discussed Syria, vise and Cyprus issues.

Bagis held a meeting with Stefan Füle, Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy, on the positive agenda for EU-Turkey relations and with Joaquin Almunia, Vice President of the European Commission responsible for Competition Policy on the required conditions to open the competition chapter.

Source:AA