Austrian Chancellor Doubts Turkey Will Become EU Member

Austria doubts that Turkish membership in the European Union is realistic, Chancellor Christian Kern said Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Kern added that at the moment Turkey’s accession to the European Union is unreasonable and noted that Turkey remains Austria’s important partner in the security and economic spheres as well as migrant issue.

"We are skeptical about the feasibility of the idea of Turkey joining the European Union. There are various reasons, related to democracy, human rights," Kern said at the joint press conference with Austrian President-elect Alexander Van der Bellen.

On Monday, Slovakia called on EU members to adopt common conclusions concerning the policy of EU extension during a session of the Council of the European Union, but the document was not adopted. Ahead of the meeting, Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian said Austria had favored freezing the talks with Turkey and expressed intention to ban the Council’s conclusions if Vienna failed to reach agreement with other EU members.

Turkey signed an association agreement with the then-European Community in 1963, and submitted a membership application in 1987. Talks about Ankara's membership of the European Union began in 2005. The negotiations on Turkey's EU membership have been repeatedly suspended due to the Cyprus dispute and Turkey's record of denying press freedom, among other obstacles.

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