The EU Will Not Accept Turkey in 2024, Says Peter Stano

Turkey will not become a member of the European Union in 2024. This was announced to Izvestia by Peter Stano, the official spokesperson for the EU's foreign service.

According to him, "The process of joining the EU takes years, not hours." He added that the EU is not currently ready to grant Turkey even a visa-free regime.

"The decision to liberalize the visa regime is made by member countries after the country meets all necessary criteria, which include human rights and political freedoms," Stano said.

On July 10, just before the NATO summit, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated that Ankara would approve Sweden's accession to the alliance after the obstacles facing his country on the EU path are removed. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg later said that Stockholm had agreed to support efforts to "resume the process of Turkey's EU membership, including the modernization of the Customs Union and the liberalization of the visa regime."

The European Commission immediately stated that the ratification of Sweden's NATO membership by Turkey and the country's progress towards EU membership cannot be linked. Back in late May, the leader of the European People's Party, the largest group in the European Parliament, Manfred Weber, declared that "no one wants Turkey's full membership in the EU anymore."