“We must ask for closer cooperation between the EU and Turkey” and to avoid confrontations, the EU High Representative pointed out on Saturday, Joseph Borel after the conclusion of the informal council of Foreign Ministers in Brussels, stressing however that the Cyprus issue must be taken into account. For her part, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium, Haja Lahbib said that “this is a necessary partner, with whom we are not aligned on certain issues, such as the rule of law, democracy, the independence of the judiciary, but also disputes with member states like Cyprus”.

Answering a question from APE-MPE about Euro-Turkish relations and in particular about whether 2024 will also be a test year for Turkey or whether the steps taken so far are enough for additional progress even in relation to visa liberalization, the Josep Borel replied that “everyone agrees that more cooperation with Turkey and avoiding confrontations is needed, but this will depend on the development of events. I don’t know what will happen with the visas, which were not discussed today, but the general feeling is that in order to solve the Cyprus problem, which for the EU is high on the agenda, we must cooperate more with Turkey, in a positive way”.