EU Leaders to Meet With Turkish PM If Sides Agree on Migration Plan

The leaders of all 28 EU member states plan to meet with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu during the ongoing summit on migration in Brussels if the parties agree on the EU-Turkey action plan, a source close to the negotiations said Friday.

BRUSSELS (Sputnik) — A two-day European Council summit on migration opened in Brussels on Thursday. EU leaders are expected to reach agreement later in the day on the EU-Turkey action plan, which envisions a one-for-one exchange of undocumented migrants for approved refugees.

"If in this bilateral format [the parties] reach a common understanding, agree on the text [of the agreement], [European Council President Donald] Tusk in this case will convene the leaders of the 28 EU countries for a meeting [without the Turkish prime minister] to reaffirm this arrangement… After that, if the EU countries agree with the EU-Turkey statement, then there will be a meeting of the 28 leaders with the Turkish prime minister," the source said.

Earlier in March, Europe and Ankara agreed in principal on a deal under which Turkey pledged to take back all undocumented migrants that arrive in the European Union via its territory in exchange for Syrians eligible for refugees status in the bloc on a one-for-one basis.

In return, the European Union pledged to provide 3 billion euros (over $3.3 billion) to Turkey to help it to deal with the undocumented migrants, with the provision of an additional 3 billion-euro allocation among other possible measures.