[WATCH] EU summit with Turkey to discuss migration, human rights

EU summit with Turkey to discuss migration, human rights • Video by Ray Attard

European Union leaders have agreed to hold a summit with Turkey, seen as a key ally in resolving the migration crisis.

The decision was taken during an informal council meeting held right after the Valletta Summit. The summit is set to be held by end November, beginning of December.

In a briefing with journalists at the Mediterranean Conference Centre – in the same room that just a few hours earlier had hosted some 60 participants to the Valletta Summit – Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said that discussions during the informal council meeting concentrated on Turkey.

“We discussed Turkey’s role in tackling the migrant crisis, where some two million refugees fleeing war are being hosted by Turkey. Europe must decided what it wants from Turkey, what sort of relationship it should have and how the situation was developing,” Muscat said.

Turkey, the EU says, presents an “unambiguous” situation because of its good treatment of refugees but has a poor human rights track record.

The European Commission, which supervises Turkey’s long-stalled bid to join the European Union, recently issued a scathing report in which it said that Turkey must calm the rising violence in the country, seek peace with the Kurds and address judicial and press freedoms.

The EU accession talks with Turkey have long been a source of controversy, not least because of the Cyprus issue.

“Such an issue, along others, needs to be addressed head on,” Muscat said. “It is these contradictions that make discussions necessary.”

The Prime Minister added that the European Union also needed to help Lebanon and Jordan who were carrying a huge burden in terms of migration.

Member states agreed to top up a €1.8 billion trust fund for Africa by €78 million, a figure which raises questions on how serious the EU really is to help Africa.

Malta is pledging €250,000.

Muscat however defended the small amounts pledged by the member states, arguing that the Commission’s trust fund was equally financed by taxpayers’ money. He said, that while – per capita – Malta’s pledge was higher than other member states, it still amounted to 50c per capita.

“This however puts us in a comfortable position to tell other member states that we are proud of our contribution.”