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Shaky EU-Turkey Deal: 'One Veto Is Enough to Make It Fail'

© AP Photo / Tolga Bozoglu, PoolGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan exchange gifts before their talks
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan exchange gifts before their talks - Sputnik International
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The EU deal with Ankara remains controversial for many reasons. First of all, it is unclear how the EU will organize the process of returning refugees from Greece to Turkey and how it will allocate quotas for newcomers.

Refugees and migrants are silhouetted as they arrive aboard the passenger ferry Ariadne at the port of Piraeus, near Athens, Greece, January 4, 2016. - Sputnik International
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The EU is unable to efficiently organize the allocation of refugees and resolve the current crisis. Therefore it remains unclear if European states will successfully put the recent EU-Turkey deal into practice, Huffington Post wrote.

The European Union and Turkey have provisionally agreed to accelerate membership and visa liberalization negotiations in exchange for Ankara helping Europe in resolving the current migrant crisis.

Both parties have agreed on a one-for-one exchange plan worth six billion euros according to which Turkey announced its readiness to take back all undocumented migrants that had arrived in the European Union and send in their place documented Syrian refugees.

However, the newspaper doubts that this plan can be successfully implemented because one veto from any EU country is enough to block the initiative completely. One of the most severe opponents of this plan could be Cyprus.

"It is unlikely that any other country would so strongly resist the liberalization of the visa regime for Turks or even its accession to the EU as this small country in the Mediterranean region," the newspaper wrote.

After Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974 and occupied almost 40% of its territory (the step is viewed as illegal under international law), the relations between both countries have remained more than strained for nearly four decades.

"Even now President Nicos Anastasiades warns that without Ankara's concessions, his country would not agree to the extension of negotiations on Turkey's accession to the EU. First, Turkey must fulfill ‘its long-standing commitment" toward Cyprus,'" the newspaper wrote, referring to the island's leader.

People withdraw money from an ATM at the main shopping and pedestrian street of Istiklal in central Istanbul, Turkey January 30, 2016 - Sputnik International
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According to the newspaper, Cyprus has the support of other EU countries. Hungary has already vetoed the current EU-Turkey plan, while Bulgaria has threatened to veto the initiative, if it does not receive more support for ensuring its border security.

The newspaper stressed that the new plan is very shaky and doubts that the EU countries will be able to implement it.

"It is unclear how the plan should be ratified if only one veto is enough to make it fail," the article concluded.

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