The EU has cut Turkey’s financial aid by three quarters, DW reported.
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The so-called pre-entry aid, which is intended to carry out reforms, was cut in 2020 for Turkey by 75 percent of the previously planned amount. Ankara will receive only 168 million euros under this program, 150 of them are for improvements in democracy and the rule of law, and another 18 million are for villages development, the publications of the Funke media group reported referring to a letter from the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell.
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According to him, a gas dispute in the Mediterranean Sea and the actions of Ankara in Syria are the reasons for this decision. He considers it important to continue financial aid for Turkish reforms.
Negotiations on Turkey’s accession to the EU have remained frozen from 2014 to 2020, the country received EUR 3.5 billion from the EU. Borrel says that since 2017, Turkey’s aid has been cut by a total of EUR 1.2 billion. Turkey’s payments provided for in the refugee agreement have not been reduced.
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H/T News.Am