MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Turkey and the European Union have been negotiating a final deal to curb the flow of migrants into the bloc. Under the deal, agreed in principal earlier in March, the European Union is expected to accelerate Turkey's EU accession process and introduce a visa-free regime with the country, as well as grant 3 billion euros (over $3.3 billion) to Turkey to help it provide for refugees on its soil. Ankara has requested an additional 3 billion euros in funding through 2018.
"On the problem of Turkish membership of the European Union, I think that in the last years, even more, this goal has become more difficult. Turkey has become a regional power, has a more and more autonomous policy, and an agreement is difficult with such a complex structure as the EU. The EU has become even more difficult than it was before. So nothing is definitive there," Prodi, who is also a former European Commission president, said.
Europe has been beset by a massive refugee crisis, with hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants fleeing their home countries in the Middle East and North Africa to escape violence and poverty. Many of them take the West Balkan route, which crosses Greece, using the country as an entry point into the bloc from which they travel onward to wealthier EU states where they intend to apply for asylum.
