“It is time for the EU, which has moved away from its founding principles and been under the influence of the short-term policies of member countries in recent years, to write a story for itself with the war in Ukraine,” Erdogan said in his Europe Day message.
According to Erdogan, the conflict in Ukraine should serve as a warning for the EU, signaling the need for solidarity and cooperation.
Erdogan added that the process of acquiring full EU membership status, which Turkey continues to abide with patiently "despite all kinds of obstacles," should be encouraged with a constructive approach.
After submitting a formal application to the EU in 1987, Turkey waited until 1999 to obtain candidate country status. The negotiations on the membership began only six years later, in 2005, but since then the process seems to have stalled. In 2019, EU-Turkey talks were terminated after Brussels accused Ankara of oppressing free media and civil society in the country.
In late March, Erdogan raised the issue of Turkey's protracted accession process to the EU, saying that negotiations on Ankara's membership should be sped up to "grant Turkey the place it deserves."
While coinciding with the celebrations of the victory over Nazi Germany in Russia, May 9 Europe Day commemorates the Schuman Declaration made by French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman in 1950. The plan involved placing French and West German coal and steel industries under the control of a common authority and is seen as a starting point for the post-WWII European integration.