Source: European Parliament
The fall of Assad’s criminal regime marks a historic moment for the Syrian people. The European Council Conclusions of 19 December 2024[1] stressed the historic opportunity to reunite and rebuild the country and underlined the importance of an inclusive and Syrian-led political process that meets the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people. The EU stands ready to support the new phase in Syria in coordination with regional partners, including Türkiye.
Türkiye has an important role to play in the stability of Syria and the region, which is in the common interest of the EU and Türkiye. It is important that the good cooperation between the EU and Türkiye, which is also a member of the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh[2], continues in the fight against terrorism.
Türkiye has legitimate security concerns and a legitimate right and responsibility to fight against terrorism, ensuring that this is done in accordance with the rule of law, respecting human rights and fundamental freedoms, and in full respect of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of neighbouring states and international law.
In line with the Council Conclusions of June 2018[3], which were repeated regularly since then, Türkiye’s accession negotiations have effectively come to a standstill. No progress has been achieved in the areas of democracy, rule of law, fundamental rights and the independence of the judiciary.
As a result, the Commission has substantially reduced the EU financial support to Türkiye under the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance[4] since 2018, and reoriented this funding towards the civil society, people-to-people contacts and the Green Deal-related common priorities.
A large part of the current financial assistance goes towards supporting Syrian refugees (about 3 million) present in the country.