Only One EU State Backs Halting Talks With Turkey on EU Membership - Slovak FM

BRUSSELS (Sputnik) – Only one EU member state favored freezing negotiations with Turkey on EU accession, while most of the EU countries took the opposite stance, Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak said Tuesday.

"The word ‘freezing’ was mentioned by one delegation but it did not receive support of the majority of member states present in the room," Lajcak told reporters, when asked about the decision on the future of the talks with Turkey.

On Monday, Slovakia proposed to the EU members to adopt common conclusions concerning the policy of EU extension during a session of the Council of the European Union, but the document was not adopted. Ahead of the meeting, Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian said Austria had favored freezing the talks with Turkey and expressed intention to ban the Council’s conclusions if Vienna failed to reach agreement with other EU members.

On November 24, European lawmakers voted in favor of freezing EU accession talks with Turkey until it lifts restrictive measures in the country in place since the July failed coup. The following day, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to open the country's borders for refugees to cross into Europe.

Ankara and Brussels agreed on a deal in March, under which Turkey pledged to take back all undocumented migrants who arrive in the European Union through its territory in exchange for Syrian refugees accommodated in Turkey, on a one-for-one basis.

Turkey signed an association agreement with the then-European Community in 1963, and submitted a membership application in 1987. Talks about Ankara's membership of the European Union began in 2005. The negotiations on Turkey's EU membership have been repeatedly suspended due to the Cyprus dispute and Turkey's record of denying press freedom, among other obstacles.