Merkel Calls for Urgent Implementation of EU-Turkey Deal on Refugees

The EU-Turkey agreement on joint measures to address the migration crisis needs urgent implementation, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday after a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — In late November, the European Union and Turkey approved a joint plan to counter excessive migration into the bloc, under which EU member states will give some 3 billion euros ($3.2 billion) to Ankara and fast track negotiations for its EU accession.

"We agree that the EU-Turkey plan needs to be implemented," Merkel said at a briefing in Berlin, adding that the issue "urgently needed progress."

The European Union is currently struggling to manage a massive refugee crisis, with hundreds of thousands of people leaving conflict-torn countries in the Middle East and North Africa for Europe.

Over two million Syrian refugees are temporarily living in Turkey. The European Union is attempting to prevent them traveling to the bloc by giving Turkey money to provide decent living conditions for the refugees on its territory.