"I am not completely sure that it will be possible for the European Union anyway to avoid to accept more refugees and to have serious policy of redistribution whatever Turkey does… Even if Turkey would accept to bloc all the refugees, which is something that of course I do not wish, it will not be possible for the European Union to avoid accepting the reality and dealing with the refugees," Frassoni said.
Frassoni added that there was a positive side to the deal, such as restrictions on how the aid will be spent, so that the money would go to easing the living conditions for Syrian refugees.
Turkey May Use Migrant Crisis as Means of Influence Over EU
Ankara is likely to use the refugee crisis in the European Union as a way to influence the bloc for its own purposes, Co-Chair of the European Green Party (EGP) Monica Frassoni told Sputnik on Tuesday.
On November 29, Turkey and the European Union approved a joint plan to counter an influx of migrants into the 28-nation bloc, under which the EU member states are expected to provide Ankara with over $3 billion and give impetus to the negotiations for Turkish accession to the European Union.
Asked if Turkey could use the deal as a means of influence over the bloc, Frassoni said:
"Very much so. [Ankara] can decide to do like [former Libyan leader Muammar] Gaddafi did, when they were negotiating with Italy, and he wanted to reach his aims… But this would totally not be a way that would be acceptable with Turkey. And [Turkey] also cannot do it for very long."
She noted that the Turkish government needs the bloc more than it has admitted.
The European Union is currently struggling to manage an enormous refugee crisis, with hundreds of thousands of people leaving conflict-torn countries in the Middle East and North Africa for Europe. Over a million illegal border crossings have been detected by the EU border agency Frontex this year.
Nearly 2.2 million Syrian refugees are currently in Turkey, displaced by the Syrian Civil War, according to the country's authorities.
Hundreds of thousands of refugees are fleeing the Middle East and North Africa to Europe, seeking asylum in wealthy EU states. The EU border agency Frontex detected over a million illegal border crossings in 2015 so far.
