European Commission's President Jean-Claude Juncker speaks to Mogherini in Strasbourg | Frederick Florin/AFP via Getty Images | Frederick Florin/AFP via Getty Images
Commission president sided with Mogherini against sanctions on Turkey.
Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker pushed back against a call to sanction Turkey in an internal meeting of commissioners last week, according to sources in the room.
Juncker backed Federica Mogherini, the EU’s representative for foreign policy and a Commission vice president, who advocated a more cautious approach than Johannes Hahn, the commissioner in charge of enlargement and neighborhood policy.
Hahn wanted Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to face consequences after what appears to be politically-motivated purges targeting civil servants, and had proposed withdrawing money promised to Turkey as part of the refugee deal that came into effect in March. Hahn is a member of Juncker’s European People’s Party and one of the Commission’s most experienced negotiators with Turkey.
Juncker, however, refused, according to a person who witnessed the discussion in the room, arguing that the money is earmarked for Syrian refugees hosted in Turkey and is routed directly to NGOs. Juncker also argued that the EU should not abandon a deal that Turkey has stuck to so far.
That point was echoed by European Parliament President Martin Schulz in an interview with German daily Bild on Monday.
“We require other countries to abide by agreements,” he said. “As long as accession talks are not formally discontinued, the EU will stick to the agreements.”
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