Tag Archives: EU

EU offers Brexit trade talks, sets tough transition terms

People drink beer at a Pro-Brexit event to celebrate the invoking of Article 50, in London. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

By Robin Emmott and Alastair Macdonald

VALLETTA/BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union offered Britain talks this year on a future free trade pact but made clear in negotiating guidelines issued on Friday that London must first agree to EU demands on the terms of Brexit.

Those include paying tens of billions of euros and giving residence rights to some 3 million EU citizens in Britain, the proposed negotiating objectives distributed by EU summit chair Donald Tusk to Britain’s 27 EU partners showed.

The document, seen by Reuters, also sets tough conditions for any transition period, insisting Britain must accept many EU rules after any such partial withdrawal. It also spelled out EU resistance to Britain scrapping swathes of tax, environmental and labor laws if it wants to have an eventual free trade pact.

The guidelines, which may be revised before the EU27 leaders endorse them at a summit on April 29, came two days after Prime Minister Theresa May triggered a two-year countdown to Britain’s withdrawal in a letter to Tusk that included a request for a rapid start to negotiations on a post-Brexit free trade deal.

“Once, and only once we have achieved sufficient progress on the withdrawal, can we discuss the framework for our future relationship,” Tusk told reporters in Malta — a compromise between EU hardliners who want no trade talks until the full Brexit deal is agreed and British calls for an immediate start.

“Starting parallel talks on all issues at the same time, as suggested by some in the UK, will not happen,” Tusk said, while adding that the EU could assess as early as this autumn that Britain had made “sufficient progress” on the exit terms in order to open the second phase of negotiations, on future trade.

Brussels has estimated that Britain might owe it something of the order of 60 billion euros on departure, although it says the actual number cannot be calculated until it actually leaves.

What it does want is to agree the “methodology” of how to work out the “Brexit bill”, taking into account Britain’s share of EU assets and liabilities. Britain disputes the figure but May said on Wednesday that London would meet its “obligations”.

The Union’s opening gambit in what Tusk said would at times be a “confrontational” negotiation with May’s government also rammed home Brussels’ insistence that while it was open to letting Britain retain some rights in the EU during a transition after 2019, it would do so only on its own terms.

Britain would have to go on accepting EU rules, such as free migration, pay budget contributions and submit to oversight by the European Court of Justice — all things that drove last June’s referendum vote to leave and elements which May would like to show she has delivered on before an election in 2020.

“Should a time-limited prolongation of Union acquis be considered, this would require existing Union regulatory, budgetary, supervisory and enforcement instruments and structures to apply,” Tusk’s draft guidelines stated in reference to a transition period that diplomats expect could last two to five years to smooth Brexit.

“NO DUMPING”

It also stressed that a future trade pact, allowing for not just low or zero tariffs on goods but also regulatory alignment to promote trade in services, should not allow Britain to pick and choose which economic sectors to open up. That would prevent London giving undue subsidies or slashing taxes or regulations — “fiscal, social and environmental dumping”, in EU parlance.

The negotiations will be among the most complex diplomatic talks ever undertaken and the EU guidelines are only an opening bid. EU officials believe they have the upper hand in view of Britain’s dependence on exports to the continent, while British diplomats see possibilities to exploit EU states’ differences.

Tusk and Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, who holds the Union’s rotating presidency, warned against such efforts and insisted the EU would negotiate “as one”, through their chief negotiator, former French foreign minister Michel Barnier. He expects to start full negotiations in early June.

Tusk spelled out priorities for the withdrawal treaty, which Barnier hopes can be settled by November 2018, in time for parliamentary ratification by Brexit Day on March 29, 2019:

– the EU wants “reciprocal” and legal “enforceable” guarantees for all EU citizens who find their rights to live in Britain affected after a cutoff on the date of withdrawal

– businesses must not face a “legal vacuum” on Brexit

– Britain should settle bills, including “contingent liabilities” to the EU

– agreement on border arrangements, especially on the new EU-U.K. land border in Ireland, as well as those of British military bases on EU member Cyprus.

(Writing by Alastair Macdonald; Editing by Catherine Evans)

German minister warns of tough Brexit talks, no discount available

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel speaks during a news conference with his Greek counterpart Nikos Kotzias (not pictured) following their meeting at the ministry in Athens, Greece, March 23, 2017. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

BERLIN (Reuters) – German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Thursday that negotiations about Britain’s exit from the European Union would be tough before getting easier.

“The Brexit negotiations with the United Kingdom that the European Union will lead for us won’t be easy – some people know the saying that … things will get difficult before they get easier again – that applies to these talks,” said Gabriel.

Gabriel also said that the EU’s remaining 27 states expected Britain to keep to its financial obligations.

“There is in no discount for Britons in the Brexit talks,” he said.

Media reports have suggested Britain may have to pay some 50 billion to 60 billion pounds ($62 billion to $74 billion) to honor existing EU budget commitments as it negotiates its departure from the bloc.

However, Britain’s Brexit minister David Davis said earlier he did not expect this to be the case and added that the time of huge sums being paid to Brussels was coming to an end.

Gabriel also said he expected Brexit negotiations to start from the end of May and reiterated that London would not be able to enjoy the benefits of the EU’s single market while imposing its own controls on immigration.

“We have always rightly stressed that the single market is not an a la carte menu – its four freedoms are inseparable and that includes the freedom of movement of people … London has understood that,” he said.

Gabriel also stressed in his speech that he wanted Germany to remain on good terms with Britain. “We must stay friends … maybe apart from when we are on the football pitch.”

(Reporting by Madeline Chambers and Michelle Martin; Editing by Toby Davis)

‘No turning back’: PM May triggers ‘historic’ Brexit

The Big Ben clock tower is seen in London, Britain March 29, 2017. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

By Guy Faulconbridge and Elizabeth Piper

LONDON (Reuters) – Prime Minister Theresa May formally began Britain’s divorce from the European Union on Wednesday, saying there was “no turning back” from a decision pitching her country into the unknown and triggering years of fraught negotiations.

Nine months after Britons voted to leave, May notified EU Council President Donald Tusk in a letter that Britain was quitting the bloc it joined in 1973.

“The United Kingdom is leaving the European Union,” May later told parliament in London. “This is an historic moment from which there can be no turning back.”

The prime minister, an initial opponent of Brexit who won the top job in the political turmoil that followed the referendum vote, now has two years to settle the terms of the divorce before it comes into effect in late March 2019.

May, 60, has one of the toughest jobs of any recent British prime minister: holding Britain together in the face of renewed Scottish independence demands, while conducting arduous talks with 27 other EU states on finance, trade, security and other complex issues.

The outcome of the negotiations will shape the future of Britain’s $2.6 trillion economy, the world’s fifth biggest, and determine whether London can keep its place as one of the top two global financial centers.

For the EU, already reeling from successive crises over debt and refugees, the loss of Britain is the biggest blow yet to 60 years of efforts to forge European unity in the wake of two world wars.

Its leaders say they do not want to punish Britain. But with nationalist, anti-EU parties on the rise across Europe, they cannot afford to give London generous terms that might encourage other member states to break away.

BREXIT DIVORCE

May’s notice of the UK’s intention to leave the bloc under Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty was hand-delivered to Tusk in Brussels by Tim Barrow, Britain’s permanent representative to the EU.

Barrow gave the letter to Tusk, the EU summit chair and former Polish prime minister, in the Council President’s offices on the top floor of the new Europa Building, according to a Reuters photographer in the room.

That moment formally set the clock ticking on Britain’s two-year exit process. Sterling, which has lost 25 cents against the dollar since the June 23 referendum, jumped to $1.25.

May signed the Brexit letter on Tuesday, pictured alone at the cabinet table beneath a clock, a British flag and an oil-painting of Britain’s first prime minister, Robert Walpole.

BREXIT DEAL?

The 6-page letter set a positive tone for the talks though it admitted that the task of extracting the UK from the EU was momentous and that reaching comprehensive agreements within two years would be a challenge.

May wants to negotiate Britain’s divorce and the future trading relationship with the EU within the two-year period, though EU officials say that will be hard given the depth of the relationship.

“We believe it is necessary to agree the terms of our future partnership alongside those of our withdrawal from the EU,” May told Tusk in her letter, adding that London wanted an ambitious free trade agreement with the EU.

“If, however, we leave the European Union without an agreement the default position is that we would have to trade on World Trade Organization terms,” she said.

May has promised to seek the greatest possible access to European markets but said Britain was not seeking membership of the ‘single market’ of 500 million people as she understood there could be no “cherry picking” of a free trade area based on unfettered movement of goods, services, capital and people.

Britain will aim to establish its own free trade deals with countries beyond Europe, and impose limits on immigration from the continent, May has said.

In an attempt to start Brexit talks on a conciliatory note, May said she wanted a special partnership with the EU though she laced that ambition with an a clear linkage of the economic and security relationship.

EU leaders will welcome assurances of a constructive approach and appreciate a commitment to remain a close partner for the EU and to encourage its development, as well as an explicit recognition that Britain cannot retain the best bits of membership after leaving.

They may be less warm to an implication that Britain could live with a breakdown of talks on trade coupled with what might be seen as a threat to disrupt the security and counter-terrorism cooperation for which Britain, as a member of the U.S.-backed Anglophone Five Eyes system, is highly valued.

“We should work together to minimize disruption and give as much certainty as possible,” May said. “Weakening our cooperation for the prosperity and protection of our citizens would be a costly mistake.”

Tusk said the EU would seek to minimize the cost of Brexit to EU citizens and businesses and that Brussels wanted an orderly withdrawal for Britain.

“We already miss you,” Tusk said. “Thank you and goodbye.”

Within 48 hours, Tusk will send the 27 other states draft negotiating guidelines. He will outline his views in Malta, where he will be attending a congress of center-right leaders. Ambassadors of the 27 will then meet in Brussels to discuss Tusk’s draft.

“DAMN NARROW TIME-FRAME”

But the course of the Brexit talks – and even their scope – is uncertain.

“The time-frame is damn narrow,” said Martin Schaefer, a spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry.

A huge number of questions remain, including whether exporters will keep tariff-free access to the single market and whether British-based banks will still be able to serve continental clients, not to mention immigration and the future rights of EU citizens in the UK and Britons living in Europe.

One major uncertainty for May is who will be leading France and Germany, which both face elections this year.

“It’s bad news for everybody. It’s a wedge pushed into the European project,” said French centrist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron, who has made clear he would ensure Britain gains no undue advantages outside the Union.

UNITED KINGDOM?

At home, a divided Britain faces strains that could lead to its break-up. In the Brexit referendum, England and Wales voted to leave the EU but Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to stay.

Scottish nationalists have demanded an independence referendum that May has refused. In Northern Ireland, rival parties are embroiled in a major political crisis and Sinn Fein nationalists are demanding a vote on leaving the UK and uniting with the Republic of Ireland.

May said she knew that triggering Brexit would be a day of celebration for some and disappointment for others.

“Now that the decision to leave has been made and the process is under way, it is time to come together,” she said.

(Additional reporting by Alastair Macdonald, Jan Strupczewski and Yves Herman in Brussels, Michel Rose in Paris and Kylie MacLellan, William James, Estelle Shirbon, Kate Holton, Paul Sandle and Anjuli Davies in London; Writing by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Mark Trevelyan, Peter Millership and Giles Elgood)

Wary of Trump, China launches EU charm offensive: diplomats

FILE PHOTO: European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, left and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands before a meeting held at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China, Tuesday, July 12, 2016. REUTERS/Ng Han Guan/Pool/File Photo

By Robin Emmott and Ben Blanchard

BRUSSELS/BEIJING (Reuters) – China has launched a charm offensive with the European Union since U.S. President Donald Trump took office, shifting its stance on trade negotiations and signaling closer cooperation on a range of other issues, European diplomats say.

European envoys in Brussels and Beijing sense a greater urgency from China to find allies willing to stand up for globalization amid fears Trump could undermine it with his protectionist “America First” policies.

“Trump is pushing China and Europe together,” said one Beijing-based diplomat, citing Chinese support for trade, combating climate change and the United Nations, all areas where the new U.S. president is seeking a change of tack.

Four senior EU diplomats and officials in close contact with the Chinese told Reuters they also see a chance for a breakthrough on business issues that have been moving slowly for years, including a special treaty to increase investment flows.

EU business groups are more skeptical, expressing growing dissatisfaction, like their U.S. counterparts, with limited market access in China and pressing for a firmer response.

Diplomats say one of the clearest outward signs of a change in tone in private diplomatic meetings has been China’s decision to drop its public campaign to be recognized by the European Union as an economy directed by the market, not the state.

The case is now being dealt with out of the limelight at the World Trade Organisation in Geneva, in what the diplomats said was a recognition by Beijing that too much pressure could provoke a protectionist backlash in Europe.

Market economy status would make it harder for the European Union to impose punitive tariffs on Chinese imports that Brussels judges as unfairly cheap.

“The market economy status issue, if it is raised at all now, is being discussed at a very low working level,” the diplomat said. “That is part of the charm offensive.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the issue was still a priority for Beijing, while also noting China’s interest in having the EU as a strong partner.

“We hope that the EU can genuinely place an importance on China’s reasonable concerns and interests,” Hua said.

China has told European officials it wants to bring forward its annual summit with the European Union from its usual July date, Reuters reported in February. The diplomats said efforts to find a suitable early date were continuing.

The summit is a way, they said, for China to press home President Xi Jinping’s message at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, a vigorous defense of open trade and global ties.

INVESTMENT TEST

European companies doing business in China say they have yet to see the change of style translating into less protectionism from Beijing.

But it contrasts sharply with a tense 2016 in which an EU-China summit, overshadowed by an international court ruling that China’s claims to the South China Sea were unlawful, ended without the usual joint statement.

Trump has changed China’s calculations, diplomats said.

During his presidential campaign, Trump frequently accused China of keeping its currency artificially low against the dollar to make Chinese exports cheaper, “stealing” American manufacturing jobs.

He also aims to reverse former President Barack Obama’s anti-fossil fuel strategy that China backed as it seeks to deal with a devastating smog crisis at home.

The Trump administration has said Xi is expected to meet Trump on April 6-7 at the U.S. leader’s Mar-a-Lago resort in the United States, although Beijing has not confirmed the talks. A Chinese diplomat said Beijing was looking for “predictability” from Trump.

The European Union remains cautious about the direction of its second-largest trading partner, concerned by China’s massive steel exports, its militarization of islands in the South China Sea and a turn toward greater authoritarianism under Xi.

But it is looking to a bilateral investment treaty to make it easier for European companies to do business in China and remove onerous rules forcing them to share know-how.

Chinese direct investment in the European Union jumped by 77 percent last year to more than 35 billion euros ($38 billion), compared to 2015, while EU acquisitions in China fell for the second consecutive year, according to the Rhodium Group.

That illustrates the imbalance in investment between the world’s two largest markets, including, on the EU side, Britain, where the government is pinning its hopes on a free trade deal with China as it splits from the rest of the bloc.

An investment treaty would go some way to quiet criticism in Europe of such unequal ties but the talks, which started in 2013, require Beijing to open sensitive sectors like technology and financial services to private firms free of the state.

China’s central bank governor Zhou Xiochuan indicated on Sunday a substantial number of sectors would be opened up while adding “we want China to get fair treatment overseas”.

One Chinese diplomat said the European Union was being “too ambitious”. Formal mention of the proposed China-EU treaty has been struck from Premier Li Keqiang’s work report this year, which diplomats said risked confusing Beijing’s message.

“We had hoped President Xi’s speech in Davos would elevate us from rhetoric about equal treatment toward a tangible commitment to walk the talk,” said Joerg Wuttke, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China.

Duncan Freeman, a China expert at the College of Europe university in Belgium, said the treaty touched on the fundamentals of how the economy worked. “That makes it very, very difficult for the Chinese side to discuss,” he said.

(Additional reporting by Michael Martina in Beijing; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

Austria says wants exemption from EU migrant relocation system

Migrants wait to cross the border from Slovenia into Spielfeld in Austria, February 16, 2016. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger

VIENNA (Reuters) – Austria will seek an exemption from having to accept more asylum-seekers under an EU relocation system, it said on Tuesday, arguing that it has already taken in its fair share during Europe’s migration crisis.

The move is a new blow to the system that would cover only a fraction of migrant arrivals to the European Union and that has barely been implemented because of opposition led by Eastern European countries including Poland and Hungary.

It also coincides with a tightening of security and immigration rules by the centrist coalition government in Austria, where a wave of arrivals that began in 2015 helped fuel a rise in support for the far-right Freedom Party, which still leads in opinion polls.

“We believe an exception is necessary for Austria for having already fulfilled its obligation. We will discuss that with the European Commission,” Chancellor Christian Kern told reporters after a weekly cabinet meeting. “We will send a letter as quickly as possible and then begin discussions.”

Fewer than 14,500 asylum-seekers have been relocated from Greece and Italy, the first EU countries that many refugees and migrants from the Middle East and Africa set foot in, under the two-year EU plan that was supposed to cover 160,000 people and which expires in September.

“We are of the opinion … that the people in question here already sought an asylum application or arrived in Italy or Greece,” Kern said. “We must check whether we have already fulfilled our quota and discharged our obligation.”

Austria took in roughly 90,000 asylum seekers in 2015, more than 1 percent of its population. More than a million migrants arrived in Germany that year, most of them having passed through Austria after crossing the Balkans from Greece.

Austria has repeatedly called on other EU countries to take their fair share, and has even backed the idea of financial penalties for those that do not.

The Commission granted Austria a temporary exception because of the large number of people it had taken in, but that has since expired.

“Austria is now expected to fulfill its legal obligation … to start relocating,” Commission spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud said.

The government has been seeking to erode support for the Freedom Party with a series of law-and-order measures and stricter immigration rules.

An “integration bill” agreed in cabinet on Tuesday would ban face-veils in public places and oblige unemployed refugees to perform jobs “of public utility” for no pay beyond their normal benefit payments.

(Reporting by Francois Murphy; additional reporting by Waverly Colville in Brussels; Editing by Catherine Evans and Robin Pomeroy)

Kremlin rejects U.S., EU calls to free detained opposition protesters

A law enforcement officer climbs on a lamp pole to detain opposition supporters during a rally in Moscow. REUTERS/Sergei

By Andrew Osborn

MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Kremlin on Monday rejected calls by the United States and the European Union to release opposition protesters detained during what it said were illegal demonstrations the previous day and accused organizers of paying teenagers to attend.

The protests, estimated to be the biggest since a wave of anti-Kremlin demonstrations in 2011/2012, come a year before a presidential election that Vladimir Putin is expected to contest, running for what would be a fourth term.

Police officers detain an opposition supporter during a rally in Vladivostok.

Police officers detain an opposition supporter during a rally in Vladivostok. REUTERS/Yuri Maltsev

Police detained hundreds of protesters across Russia on Sunday, including opposition leader Alexei Navalny, after thousands took to the streets to demonstrate against corruption and demand the resignation of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

Medvedev’s spokeswoman has called corruption allegations against him “propagandistic attacks,” saying they amount to pre-election posturing by Navalny, who hopes to run against Putin next year.

Opinion polls suggest the liberal opposition, which Navalny represents, has little chance of fielding a candidate capable of unseating Putin, who enjoys high ratings. But Navalny and his supporters hope to channel public discontent over official corruption to attract more support.

The United States and the European Union both issued statements calling on Russia to free detained protesters, but Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday such calls were wide of the mark.

“We can’t agree with these calls,” Peskov told reporters on a conference call, saying the police had been professional and properly enforced Russian law.

He said the Kremlin had no problem with people expressing their opinions at protest meetings, but said the timing and location of such events had to be agreed with the authorities in advance, something which he said had not been done in large part on Sunday.

The authorities are concerned opposition activists will try to encourage people to break the law again in future, he said.

Law enforcement officers detain an opposition supporter during a rally in Moscow.

Law enforcement officers detain an opposition supporter during a rally in Moscow. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin

“We can’t respect people who deliberately misled minors — in essence children — calling on them to take part in illegal actions in unsanctioned places and offering them certain rewards to do so, thus putting their lives at risk,” said Peskov.

“What we saw yesterday in certain places, and especially in Moscow, was a provocation.”

He said police had gathered factual evidence that some teenagers, who had been detained, had been paid cash by protest organizers to attend.

The Kremlin would listen to what people who took part in other sanctioned anti-government protests in some Russian cities had said on Sunday, Peskov promised.

(Reporting by Andrew Osborn/Maria Kiselyova; Editing by Kevin O’Flynn)

Erdogan says Turkey will review EU ties after April referendum

FILE PHOTO: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan greets his supporters during a ceremony in Eskisehir, Turkey, March 17, 2017. Murat Cetinmuhurdar/Presidential Palace/Handout via REUTERS

By Ece Toksabay and Nick Tattersall

ANKARA/ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkey will review all political and administrative ties with the European Union after an April referendum, including a deal to curb illegal migration, but will maintain economic relations with the bloc, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday.

In an interview with broadcaster CNN Turk, Erdogan said everything “from A to Z” in Turkey’s relations with Europe would be reviewed after the April 16 referendum on constitutional changes that would extend his powers.

He also said he would meet “face to face” with the new U.S. administration in May. The relationship between Erdogan and U.S. President Donald Trump, both populist leaders, will be closely watched, with ties between the NATO allies deeply strained.

Turkey has been incensed by U.S. support for a Kurdish militia in Syria it sees as a terrorist group, and by the continued presence in the United States of Fethullah Gulen, the Turkish cleric Ankara blames for a failed coup last July and wants extradited.

Turkey’s relations with the European Union have meanwhile become particularly acrimonious after Germany and the Netherlands canceled planned campaign rallies on their territory by Turkish officials seeking to drum up support for a “yes” vote in the April referendum.

Both cited security concerns for their decision, but Erdogan has accused them of using “Nazi methods” and trampling on free speech. He made no apology on Thursday for the comparison.

“You get disturbed when we say it is fascism, it’s Nazism, but what you are doing fits in that definition,” he said.

Erdogan said European countries were allowing events for the “no” campaign while banning Turkish officials from rallying his supporters. He accused Germany of supporting terrorism and said he had no plans to visit the country before the referendum, contrary to some recent media reports.

The European Commission earlier said it had summoned the Turkish ambassador to explain comments by Erdogan that Europeans would not be able to “walk safely on the streets” if they kept up their current attitude toward Turkey.

Despite the row, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said during a trip to Athens on Thursday that communication channels between the EU and Turkey must remain open.

The row has placed Europe in an awkward position with Ankara, which has seen its decades-old bid to join the bloc move at snail’s pace due to concerns over its human rights record, ethnically-split Cyprus, and reluctance among some European countries to admit a largely Muslim nation.

Turkey is an integral part of a deal to keep hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants fleeing the Middle East and beyond from moving to Europe, in return for 3 billion euros ($3.23 billion) in EU financial aid to Ankara.

Erdogan also said a U.S. and British ban on devices bigger than a cellphone in the cabin on flights from several countries including Turkey had damaged mutual confidence and said he hoped the mistake would be corrected soon.

Turkish Airlines, which is 49 percent state-owned, could be particularly hit by the restrictions. More than half of its international passengers are transit customers who could instead travel through Europe or other hubs.

(Reporting by Ece Toksabay; Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)

EU says summons Turkish ambassador over Erdogan comments

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan makes a speech during a meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, March 19, 2017. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission said on Thursday it had summoned the Turkish ambassador to explain comments by President Tayyip Erdogan that Europeans would not be able to “walk safely on the streets” if they kept up their current attitude toward Turkey.

Turkey’s relations with the European Union have become particularly strained after two member states canceled planned campaign rallies on their territory by Turkish ministers ahead of an April 16 referendum on boosting Erdogan’s powers.

Germany and the Netherlands cited security concerns for their decision, but Erdogan has accused them of using “Nazi methods” and of trampling on free speech.

On Wednesday Erdogan said: “If Europe continues this way, no European in any part of the world can walk safely on the streets. Europe will be damaged by this. We, as Turkey, call on Europe to respect human rights and democracy.”

The Commission, the EU’s executive arm, is seeking an explanation from Turkey’s envoy to the 28-nation bloc, a spokeswoman said.

“On these specific comments, we have actually asked the Turkish foreign delegate to the EU to come to the EEAS (the Commission’s foreign policy service) today for a meeting,” the spokeswoman said.

Turkey’s mission to the EU had no immediate comment.

(Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska and Waverly Colville; Editing by Robin Emmott and Gareth Jones)

Erdogan says Bulgaria’s pressure on Turks ‘unacceptable’

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan makes a speech during a meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, March 19, 2017. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan slammed Bulgaria on Thursday for “putting pressure” on expatriate Turks living there ahead of a parliamentary election amid rising tension between the two neighbors.

Bulgaria votes in parliamentary elections on Sunday. Last week, its caretaker government summoned Turkey’s envoy to Sofia and also recalled its ambassador to Turkey for consultations.

Prime Minister Ognyan Gerdzhikov said this was to “prevent any attempts by Turkey to influence an election”.

Bulgaria also expelled a Turkish citizen and banned two others from entering the country, after reports a Turkish minister had campaigned for the DOST party that represents Bulgarian Turks, the country’s largest ethnic minority.

“I am calling on Bulgaria. I am calling to our kin and brothers there … It seriously upsets us to see and hear that pressure is being exerted there,” Erdogan said at a conference in Ankara.

Bulgaria’s ethnic Turks are estimated to total more than half a million in a total population of 7.2 million. More than 400,000 Bulgarian nationals live in Turkey, most of them Bulgarian Turks descended from Ottoman-era Turkish settlers in the Balkans.

“On the one hand you say democracy, on the other you are putting pressure on Turks. This is unacceptable. On the one hand you talk of the EU legal acquis, on the other you do the exact opposite. This cannot be,” Erdogan said, using the European Union’s term for its body of existing laws.

Bulgaria called Sunday’s early parliamentary elections after former Prime Minister Boiko Borisov resigned in November following his party’s loss in presidential polls.

Erdogan’s comments come on the heels of an escalating row between Turkey and its European allies over the barring of campaigning among Turkish expatriates in Germany and the Netherlands to drum up support for a referendum in April that would increase his powers.

Erdogan has angered the Germans and Dutch after repeatedly accusing his them of “Nazi methods” over the bans, leading to a sharp deterioration in ties with the European Union, which Turkey still officially aspires to join.

(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Ece Toksabay and Tom Heneghan)

EU leaders to meet for special Brexit summit on April 29: EU’s Tusk

European Council President Donald Tusk takes part in a news conference after being reappointed chairman of the European Council during a EU summit in Brussels, Belgium, March 9, 2017. REUTERS/Yves Herman

By Waverly Colville

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union’s 27 leaders will meet on April 29 to agree their negotiating lines for Brexit talks after London sends in a formal notification that it wants to leave the bloc, the chairman of the summit, Donald Tusk, said on Tuesday.

The meeting is a necessary step before the negotiations between Britain and the 27 remaining EU states can start formally. London said on Monday it would send in its exit notification on March 29.

“In view of what was announced in London yesterday, I’d like to inform you that I will call a European Council on Saturday, the 29th of April, to adopt the guidelines for the Brexit talks,” Tusk told reporters.

“You know I personally wish the UK hadn’t chosen to leave the EU, but the majority of British voters decided otherwise. Therefore we must do everything we can to make the process of divorce the least painful for the EU.”

The unprecedented talks are due to run for two years, though many diplomats and officials admit it would probably take longer.

“Our main priority for the negotiations must be to create as much certainty and clarity as possible for all citizens, companies and member states that will be negatively affected by Brexit, as well as our important partners and friends around the world,” Tusk added.

(Writing by Jan Strupczewski and Gabriela Baczynska)