BRUSSELS – European Union’s (EU) leaders on Friday approved a deal with Turkey to curb the migration crisis, Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila said.
He said that the deal came after Turkey’s Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu visited Brussels for talks. “The Turkey deal was approved,” Sipila wrote on Twitter as the 28 EU’s leaders met to discuss the deal. An EU official separately confirmed the agreement which all the EU national leaders would now discuss with Davutoglu before signing off on an accord meant to end Europe’s worst migrant crisis since World War II.
“Tusk’s proposal for the EU-Turkey agreement approved by EU’s leaders, in principle, as it is now up for final talks with the Turkish prime minister,” said the official who asked not to be named.
The plan included a hugely controversial plan for Turkey to take back all new migrants arriving in Greece which, critics said, could infringe international law on the treatment of asylum seekers. EU officials stressed repeatedly that this would not be the case because each application would be treated individually, with full rights of appeal and proper oversight.
Earlier, Turkish delegation to the EU said in a tweeted message: “Look forward 2 a deal before dinner.”
