Merkel says it is necessary to maintain agreement with Turkey on refugees

Germany considers it necessary to maintain and further develop the agreement with Turkey on refugees. This was stated on Tuesday by German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a joint press conference with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, TASS reports.

“We are still working on the decisions [of the upcoming June 24-25] [EU] summit. I think this agreement between the EU and Turkey is important, it should be further developed,” Merkel said. “I am convinced of this,” the chancellor added.

“Turkey is doing a wonderful job in supporting a total of 3.7 million Syrian refugees. In this regard, it deserves our help,” she said.

Von der Leyen, for her part, noted that on Monday evening she had a conversation with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. She said that the agenda of the EU summit on June 24-25 will include the resumption of negotiations with Ankara in the field of combating global warming and health, topics related to the creation of a customs union, as well as a migration package. 

“Here, in my opinion, it is important to further support Turkey,” the head of the EC said.