Geopolitical developments are unfolding in such a way that, regardless of the nature of our relations with the EU, they force us to cooperate, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said during a joint press conference in Vienna with Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger.

Axar.az informs that responding to a question about Turkiye’s European Union membership process, Fidan said:

“We have never demanded entry without fulfilling membership conditions or before meeting them. If you are joining a place, there are conditions. These are set before you, and when you comply with them, you are admitted. But the problem is that within the European Union, there is no political will stating ‘when Turkiye meets the criteria, we accept its membership.’”

Fidan stated that the EU’s political will was “undermined by former French President Nicolas Sarkozy in 2007,” adding that “the European political will previously expressed by Mr. Schröder (former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder) and Mr. Chirac (former French President Jacques Chirac) was removed with Mr. Sarkozy.”

Emphasizing that a political will must be declared within the EU for Turkiye to proceed to evaluation stages, Fidan said:

“On the other hand, geopolitical developments are unfolding in such a way that, regardless of the nature of our relations with the EU, they force us to cooperate. The Russia–Ukraine crisis, the Middle East crisis, the Strait of Hormuz, developments in our region, stability in the Balkans, our trade volume, shared trade resilience, and the establishment of a defense base—there are many issues like these.”

Fidan noted that when Europe and Turkiye come together, they represent a population of 500 million and have many areas of cooperation, saying:

“When you could achieve a combined structure of 500 million people across all these areas, a country of fewer than one million can block it, and no one can say anything about it. Such a tactical issue preventing a major strategic interest is a deadlock, and this is a problem Europe must solve internally.”

He emphasized that Turkiye’s policy is to maintain good relations with Europe at all times, noting that bilateral trade is approaching $250 billion and could rise to $500 billion with the modernization of the Customs Union Agreement.

Fidan said both sides “want to take steps but somehow cannot,” adding: “There are difficulties on the EU side in demonstrating political will.”