EU to grant Turkey visa-free travel despite not meeting all criteria

If the European Commission shies away from recommending visa-free travel for Turks within the Schengen area this Wednesday then it will be doing so holding its breath.

The EU harbours fears that if the visa agreement slides, so will Turkey's commitment to halting the influx of migrants.

But Turkey must still meet EU criteria! The freedom of speech; the right to a fair trial and revising terrorism legislation to better protect minority rights - these are just some of the criteria demanded by the EU of countries before it lifts visa requirements even for short-term travel. In total, the agreement says Turkey must meet 72 conditions by 4th May to earn access by the end of June, but diplomats have said that only about half of those points have been met so far. Meeting these criteria seems ever-more distant as Ankara is increasingly cracking down on its critics in a more autocratic fashion than democratic.

But as the European Commission and most EU governments are under huge public pressure to ease the migrant crisis, the EU is at its wits end. Thus the Commission keep to the agreed script while they insist this is no blank cheque.

According to the EU-Turkey agreement, migrants who have arrived illegally in Greece since 20 March are to be sent back to Turkey if they do not apply for asylum or if their claim is rejected.

For each Syrian migrant returned to Turkey, the EU is to take in another Syrian who has made a legitimate request.

Human rights groups question the deal's legality, arguing that Turkey is not a safe place to return people to.

Last month, however, European Council President Donald Tusk said that the deal had begun rendering results. He praised the Turkish government as "the best example in the world on how to treat refugees."

At the same time, Turkish PM Ahmed Davutoglu said his country had fulfilled its part of the agreement and that the issue of the visa waiver for the EU's Schengen area was "vital" for Turkey.