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Macron puts the kibosh on Turkey

RT Erdogan and E. Macron at the Elysée (credit: Elysée)

(B2) During his first trip to France since the July 2016 coup, Turkish President Recep Tayip Erdogan was picked off cold, on January 5, by his French counterpart. Emmanuel Macron did not mince his words. " It is clear that recent developments and choices do not allow any progress in the process undertaken towards joining the European Union, he explained during the conference that followed the meeting. " We had a very frank discussion on this subject. ". " But it is obvious that we must come out of a natural progression towards opening new chapters is possible, it is not true »

A new format of cooperation

And the French president to propose another format of "cooperation" for EU-Turkey relations. The " dialogue [...] must be rethought, reformulated in a more contemporary context and taking into account the realities that are ours today ". One " demanding work " who " should be offered in the next few months he called President Juncker as a witness who “ worked a lot on this topic (1). This " peaceful dialogue "should thus" enable us to build a relationship which, in my view, is essential both for ourselves, for the region and for stability, which anchors Turkey in this dialogue with the European Union ».

Comment: by thus publicly closing the door to any enlargement to the former Ottoman Empire, Emmanuel Macron takes up the position of his predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy but in a more firm way. We are no longer in the suspension of its negotiation or even in its cessation but in its transformation. Which is neither more nor less a return to the principle of reality. Negotiations are now at a standstill. The Turks make no effort. And even if they would, most European populations do not seem at all ready for this enlargement. Reason makes it necessary to seek other modes of relations with Ankara, which deserves a special status among the neighbors of the European Union, particularly in view of its status as a member of the Atlantic Alliance and its strategic position, on the edge of Syria and Iran and on the borders of Asia and the Middle East.

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)

(1) An allusion to the fact that some within the Commission would like to pursue the opening of new chapters.

Nicolas Gros Verheyde

Chief editor of the B2 site. Graduated in European law from the University of Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne and listener to the 65th session of the IHEDN (Institut des Hautes Etudes de la Défense Nationale. Journalist since 1989, founded B2 - Bruxelles2 in 2008. EU/NATO correspondent in Brussels for Sud-Ouest (previously West-France and France-Soir).

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