Turkish Foreign Minister Pushes for Visa Liberalisation With EU

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Türkiye, Hakan Fidan, has once again urged for visa liberalisation with the European Union.

Stressing that the current Schengen visa system is insufficient and does not meet the growing demand, Minister Fidan said that the authorities need to move forward and reach a visa-free travel agreement, Schengen.News reports.

Ratio of Approved & Rejected Visas Has Not Changed for Years, Minister Said 
In addition to demanding visa liberalisation, Minister Fidan also complained about the high rejection rates and other visa-related issues that Turkish nationals face. 

He said that the EU countries are claiming to grant the most visas to Turkish passport holders. However, according to Minister Fidan, statistics say otherwise, with the ratio of approved and rejected visas not changing for years, Türkiye Today explains. 

As Minister Fidan noted, Turkish nationals are filing a large number of Schengen visa applications, especially for tourist visas, adding to their costs. 

To help the country’s citizens have a more hassle-free experience, he suggested that the visa process should “disappear”.

At the same time, Minister Fidan expressed his hope to address this issue, noting that it need to be implemented in parallel with economy improvements. 

EU Ambassador Said Visa Facilitation for Turkish Nationals Is a Top Priority 
Concerned about the visa-related issues that Turkish nationals keep on facing, the Ambassador of the EU to Türkiye, Thomas Ossowski just recently said that visa facilitation is one of his main priorities. 

The ambassador said that “it is not good for people to wait so long to get a visa” and confirmed that he has increased cooperation with Turkish officials to develop a new visa facilitation perspective.

According to statistics from SchengenVisaInfo, Turkish nationals filed the second-highest number of Schengen visa applications in 2023. During the same period, Schengen member states granted 867,646 visas to Turkish nationals.

Source: https://schengen.news/turkish-foreign-minister-pushes-for-visa-liberalisation-with-eu/