The EU-Turkey summit scheduled for March 26 in Bulgaria’s coastal city of Varna was not officially confirmed until late Thursday. On March 22 Bulgaria’s Premier Boyko Borissov and the President of the EU Council Donald Tusk agreed that the abovementioned meeting is necessary and is a good opportunity for the EU and Turkey to normalize their relations. According to Premier Borissov, this meeting is the last opportunity for Brussels and Ankara to keep the dialogueopen. Although it was not absolutely sure whether this meeting would take place, Bulgaria has been preparing actively for the EU-Turkey summit. After the meeting of the EU leaders in Brussels on Thursday it became clear that such a meeting will be held according to schedule, despite Turkey’s actions in the Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea. Thus, the meeting proved possible, yet more complicated.

Initially, the Bulgarian cabinet and its Premier Borissov initiated the EU-Turkey meeting to normalize the relations between Brussels and Ankara. Now the Bulgarian government considers the meeting as the last chance to store the dialogue between the EU and Turkey. This is so, because the tension between the European Union and Ankara escalated even further. Last week Turkey’s President Recep Erdogan accused the European Union of insincerity and dishonesty, because in his words, the EU failed to fulfill its engagement under the migrant deal to allot to Turkey EUR 3 billion. In return, the EU backed Greece and Cyprus, which accused Turkey of illegal actions in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea. The tension escalated even further when Turkey arrested Greek frontier guards who entered involuntarily Turkey when they were patrolling at the Greece-Turkey border.

On March 22 Premier Borissov commented in Brussels that under these circumstances he set one goal linked with the continuation of the migrant agreement between the European Union and Turkey and the payment of the promised amount (EUR 3 billion) to Turkey. As regards the arrested Greek military men, Borissov already sent a message to President Erdogan hoping to discuss with him the topic tête-à-tête in Varna.

The continuation of the agreement on migrants depends on the payment of the promised financial resource to Turkey. The EU already fulfilled its engagement and allotted the first tranche of EUR 3 billion for 2016 and 2017. According to Bulgaria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva, the payment of the second tranche of EUR 3 billion is bound up with the situation in Syria which still remains tense.

However, Bulgaria’s task as a mediator during the Varna meeting has been complicated not only by the existing reticence amidst some EU member states towards a dialogue with Tukey, but also by other circumstances. In the interest of its good relations with Turkey Bulgaria refrained from raising the human rights issue to Ankara, which has been discussed many times within the EU. However, several days ago the Bulgarian Judges Association called on Premier Borissov to advocate during the forthcoming meeting in Varna for human rights before the President of Turkey. The Bulgarian Socialist Party called on Premier Borissov to condemn Erdogan’s recent statement that “Kardzhali is part of Turkey’s mental bounds”, which in their view is a provocation against the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of Bulgaria. Moreover, the socialists call on Borissov to raise the topic related to the Thracian refugees compensations when the EU leaders meet in Varna with Turkey’s President Erdogan – a cause which is supported by GERB’s coalition partner – the United Patriots.

Thus, the EU-Turkey summit in Varna is loaded with many expectations several days before its start. We are to learn the results of the meeting soon. One thing is for sure – any success will be welcome taking into consideration the difficulties surrounding the meeting.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov