EU to Deny Turkey Visa-Free Regime if Ankara Fails to Fulfill Migrant Deal

Turkey will not receive visa-free travel to the EU if it does not fulfill its commitments under the migration deal, the European commissioner for migration said.

BRUSSELS (Sputnik) – The European Union will not grant Turkey visa-free travel unless Ankara fulfills its remaining commitments under an EU-Turkey migration deal, European Commissioner for Migration Dimitris Avramopoulos said Wednesday.

"[European Commission President Jean-Claude] Juncker was crystal clear yesterday, as I have been in the past: No visa liberalization can be offered if not all benchmarks are met," Avramopoulos said at a briefing.

Avramopoulos noted that the Commission planned to present its progress report by May 4 on Turkey’s implementation of the deal to pave way toward visa-free travel for Turkish nationals by June.

In March, Europe and Turkey agreed on a deal under which Ankara pledged to take back all undocumented migrants that had arrived to the European Union in exchange for Syrian refugees on a one-for-one basis.

In return, the European Union pledged to provide a total of 3 billion euros (over $3.3 billion) to Turkey for dealing with refugees, with a possible further 3 billion-euro provision in 2018. The 28-member bloc also agreed to accelerate Turkey's EU accession process and introduce a visa-free regime between Turkey and Europe.