Türkiye, EU to continue to work to support Syrians’ return: Envoy
Serkan Demirtaş - ANKARA
Türkiye and the European Union will continue to work for the stabilization and transition in Syria, a senior EU official has said, adding Brussels is designating financial programs to facilitate the safe and dignified return of Syrians.
“As the EU – in the next years we will support Syrian refugees’ livelihoods here in Türkiye, but we are also designating and financing programs for those refugees who plan to come back to Syria. In such way, refugees could benefit from safe and dignified return and the cost-free travel to the border; we will also contribute to the support for the start of their lives in Syria,” chargé d’affairs of the EU Delegation to Türkiye Jurgis Vilcinskas has told a group of reporters in Ankara on Dec. 12.
Thanking Türkiye and the Turkish people for hosting the Syrians fleeing the 13-year-long civil war, the EU envoy has informed that Ankara and Brussels agreed to the refugee assistance package for 2025-2027, adding 1.5 billion euros to complement the 1 billion euros programmed in 2024.
“We will continue to coordinate migration policies and work together on the stabilization and transition in Syria. Building an inclusive and democratic Syria will be a major opportunity to deepen our relations and EU-Türkiye strategic partnership,” he said.
The ties between Türkiye and the EU had a good performance in 2025 as “European leaders reaffirmed on several occasions the EU’s strong interest in developing a cooperative and mutually beneficial relationship with Türkiye strategically, politically and economically,” Vilcinskas recalled.
Apart from meetings at the leaders’ level, high-level dialogues on certain key issues have also taken place during 2025, including trade, migration and security, climate, science, research and innovation, the diplomat said.
“And when I say dialogue – I do not mean just meeting and talking. Each dialogue delivered concrete results, e.g., reduced trade barriers and trade irritants, improved cooperation in research and development, allowed to share assessments on the threats to the security, improve border management plans and cooperation on migration,” he explained.
One million Schengen visa applications
Another positive development observed in 2025 was linked to people-to-people and business mobility, according to Vilcinskas.
“This year probably more than one million Schengen visa applications will be processed in Türkiye, second only to China, and with visa refusal rate lower than the global average,” he informed.
In the summer, the EU introduced a new visa cascade arrangement, helping Turkish citizens, with solid, bona fide traveling track record to receive multi-entry and multi-year Schengen visas. The cascade will not apply to truck drivers.
“With time, this no doubt will have positive impact on the appointment waiting times at visa centers or Schengen member states’ consulates and shorten the wait for visas when documents are submitted,” stressed the diplomat.
The EU envoy has also expressed Brussels’ readiness to resume technical works for visa liberalization for Turkish nationals.
“We are ready to work with Turkish authorities to make this happen, because Türkiye remains the only candidate country which does not benefit from visa free travel,” he added.
Another important progress was marked on the economy as the trade volume between Türkiye and EU members is expected to go up from 210 billion euros ($246.2 billion) to 230 billion euros ($269.6 billion) by the end of this year, the diplomat cited.