"I can imagine that we will make some progress," Martin Schultz said, but criticized what he described as a lack of unity in the European parliament about putting the agreement into force, including the redistribution of 160,000 asylum seekers to Europe from Turkey.
"For this distribution Hungary has to take just 1,294 refugees, but Mr. Orban is holding a referendum and saying it is a German problem," Schultz complained.
"As long as we have to have such debates and unanimous decisions can only be taken by the European Council, it is difficult for me to sound more optimistic."
"The trenches that are opening up could lead to the failure of the EU. No project, including the EU, is irreversible."
The EU Parliament President also had critical words for Ankara, which is seeking EU membership in return for stopping illegal migration across its borders into Europe.
"There is no military solution for the Kurdish problem," and Turkey must respect freedom of the press, he said, adding that the EU is more flexible on other questions like visa liberalization and the opening of new chapters on Turkey's EU accession, Die Welt reported.
