Turkey expecting visa-free travel in EU by June

AMSTERDAM

Turkish nationals can expect vise-free travel to the EU by June, the country’s EU Minister Volkan Bozkir said Tuesday.

“We expect that the decision for the citizens of the Republic of Turkey to enter the Schengen zone without visa requirement will be taken before the end of June,” he said following a meeting with Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders.

The Netherlands currently holds the EU presidency.

Bozkir said the EU Commission would release a report on early May on the visa agreement.

“We expect that the commission report will be positive and they will express opinion for removing the visa,” he said at a news conference in Amsterdam. “All the developments are advancing in this direction.

“Following that, the topic will be presented before term president the Netherlands. It is the Netherlands that will organize the council’s decision. We talked about this. Then it will go to parliament and the decision… will be finalized.”

He said the necessary legislation would be finalized by the end of April. A decision to open Chapter 33 on financial and budgetary provisions would also be taken soon to speed up Turkey’s EU accession.

Under an EU-Turkey deal to ease the refugee crisis facing Europe, EU leaders agreed to cut visa requirements for Turkish citizens and accelerate Turkey’s EU membership bid.

AMSTERDAM

Turkish nationals can expect vise-free travel to the EU by June, the country’s EU Minister Volkan Bozkir said Tuesday.

The Netherlands currently holds the EU presidency.

Bozkir said the EU Commission would release a report on early May on the visa agreement.

Under an EU-Turkey deal to ease the refugee crisis facing Europe, EU leaders agreed to cut visa requirements for Turkish citizens and accelerate Turkey’s EU membership bid.