Stellungnahme der EVP, der größten Partei im EU-Parlament, nach dem 31. März: Eine Vollmitgliedschaft der Türkei in der EU wäre für beide Parteien zu viel.

Manfred Weber, the leader of the conservative European People’s Party (EPP), which holds the largest cluster in the European Parliament (EP), has once again indicated his belief that the European Union should terminate the frozen accession negotiations between Turkey and the EU. In his statement on the X platform on April 2, Weber wrote: „As the EPP, we are ready to deepen the customs union and other partnerships if Turkey continues to open up.“ „However, the EU should also clarify the long-term context,“ Weber continued, adding: „Turkey’s full membership in the EU would be too much for both sides.“ It is noteworthy that Weber’s statement came after the Republican People’s Party, which holds a moderate stance on EU membership, emerged as the leading party in the local elections on March 31 in Turkey. Despite the ruling party AKP also claiming to aspire for EU membership, a crisis of trust exists between Brussels and AKP officials due to years of unsuccessful negotiations. In his assessment to Tagesspiegel after the election, Weber said: „It is premature to speculate that the Erdogan era is over.“ In their draft election program prepared for the EP elections this summer, the EPP initially included the proposal to „terminate Turkey’s candidate status,“ but after Turkey’s reaction, this element was removed from the election program. Weber extended a similar invitation after President Tayyip Erdoğan won the elections from May 14 to 28, 2023. Turkey’s EU accession negotiations have been frozen since 2019, but its status as a candidate country remains. Since the start of the negotiations, Turkey has been able to open 16 out of the 35 chapters required for membership and has only completed one.