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ANKARA Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans surprising push to revamp his countrys stalled European Union accession bid may lead to some progress, but European leaders will ultimately be deterred by Ankara's democratic backsliding, experts told Al-Monitor.

At the NATO summit in Vilnius on Monday, Erdogan reversed course by dropping his countrys objection to the Swedish bid to join the alliance. The move came after Stockholm pledged to actively support efforts to revive Turkeys accession negotiations to the EU, modernize the customs union treaty between Turkey and the bloc and allow visa free travel for Turkey to member countries. Sweden also made other promises to Turkey in a seven-point memo.

In line with its founding father Mustafa Kemal Ataturks vision, Turkey had historically positioned itself as a part of the Europe. And it made its bid to join the European club in 1959 by applying to what was then the European Economic Community, merely two years after its inception

However, few observers are optimistic that Erdogan's efforts will alter the nature of the ties between Ankara and Brussels, which have deteriorated steadily over the past years over Turkeys democratic backsliding and human rights record.

Serhat Guvenc,professor of international relations at Istanbul's Kadir Has University, said Erdogan surprised everyone by jump-starting Turkeys EU bid.

Yet I don't think [the government] is ready to live up to the transformation this effort entails at home, Guvenc told Al-Monitor. He said to revive the membership talks, Ankara would have to implement several steps, including overhauling its counterterrorism laws. Guvenc said such a move would be seen as capitulating by Erdogan's government.

Erosion of rule of law, fundamental rights and independence of the judiciary as well as controversial foreign policies in Syria, Libya and the eastern Mediterranean prompted the EU to announce that Turkey's full membership negotiations with the bloc had come to a standstill in 2018.

A renewed effort and economic woes

Although Turkish officials kept paying lip service to Erdogan's commitment to the EU bid in the lead up to the general elections in May, they have done little to assuage EU concerns.

So, why has Erdogan suddenly decided to give it another push?

With Turkey facing an acute financial crisis and foreign currency crunch, Erdogan's government is scrambling to draw international funds to the country. As part of his first regional tour since his reelection in May, Erdogan will travel to Gulf countries on Monday mainly to secure much-needed funds. The revitalized EU bid may have been driven by a similar motivation.

The governments priorityright now is to recover the economy. One of the ways to do that is to progress the modernization of the Customs Union, Guvenc said.

Accepting a long-held Turkish demand, the European Council in 2016 decided to initiate formal negotiations to modernize the Customs Union Treaty between the EU and Ankara. The negotiations have yielded no concrete outcome yet. The bloc halted the talks in 2018 over escalating tensions between Turkey andEU members Greece and Cyprus, but in 2020, the European Council the blocs decision-making body greenlighted the resumption of the talks on condition that Turkey restores good ties with its neighbors. But Ankaras exploration and drilling activities in contested waters in the eastern Mediterranean further escalated the tensions in the same year.

According to Guvenc, the resumption of confidence-building talks between Turkey and Greece, along with Ankaras suspension of its drilling activities in contested waters in the Eastern Mediterranean, could help the customs talks speed up.

Indeed, following Erdogans meetings with European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on the sidelines of the summit earlier this week, EU foreign ministers are set to discuss Turkey next Thursday. After his meeting with Erdogan, Michel announced that he instructed the European Commission to lay out a reportwith a view to proceed in a strategic and forward-looking manner.

The total trade volume between Turkey and the EU reached$196.4 billion last year, while Turkey exported more than $103 billion of goods to EU countries, according to the Turkish Ministry of Trade. As Turkeys top trading partner, modernization of the Customs Union Treaty with the EU could provide a major boost for Turkeys beleaguered economy.

Will the political cudgel work?

Negotiations over visa free travel for Turkish nationals and modernization of the Customs Union Treaty came to the forefront after a deal Turkey struck with the EU in 2016 that effectively prevented a mass influx of Syrian refugees to Europe, by providing funding to Ankara in the amount of 6 billion euros ($6.7 billion) toward expenses for the more than 3.5 million Syrians living in the country.

Becoming a political cudgel, Erdogan has often threatened to scrap the 2016 deal whenever tensions between Ankara and Brussels spiked. At the peak of the tensions in March 2020, Erdogan had announced his country would no longer block migrants passage to Europe, prompting tens of thousands of asylum-seekers to amass in Turkeys land and sea borderswith Greece. The European Parliament approved nearly 500 million ($562 million) additional funding in July.

At a time when EU countries are rejecting visa applications of Turkish citizens citing increasing asylum-seeking applications from Turkey, visa free travel seems like a tall prospect. Yet Ankaras path to an updated Customs Unions is also not that smooth.

According to Sinan Ulgen, a former Turkish diplomat and senior fellow at Carnegie Europe in Brussels, Ankara needs to restore the rule of law and other basicdemocratic criteria that earned Turkey formal candidate status in 2005, to achieve any progress in talks with the EU about visa liberalization, Customs Union or full membership negotiations.

"The first step should be Turkey's compliance with the ECHRs rulings, Ulgen said, using the acronym of Europes top human rights court, the European Court of Human Rights. Defying relevant court rulings, Turkish authorities are keeping several human rights activists and politicians in prison. The Council of Europe a Pan-European body separate from the European Union initiated rarely used infringement proceedings against Turkey in 2021 over Ankaras failure to release businessman and philanthropist Osman Kavala despite the ECHRs judgment ordering his immediate release. Kavala, 65, has been behind bars since 2017 on charges that were widely criticized by international civic groups and Western capitals.Turkey now risks suspension of its membership at the council.

It is not realistic to expect any nontransactional progress in Turkeys ties with the EU without settling the ongoing process in the European Council, Ulgen said, adding that practices that target free speech should be abandoned. Thousands of people in Turkey, including hundreds of journalists, have faced trials and have been imprisoned for voicing dissent over the past decade.

Erdogan, in turn, doesnt believe his country has any shortcomings in terms of democracy. There is no problem in Turkey regarding democracy, rights and freedoms. Erdogan told reporters in a press conference at the end of the NATO summit on Wednesday. We have no shortcomings when it comes to democracy and rights and freedoms.

A journey of more than a half century

Turkeys tumultuous bid to join the European club harks back to 1959 when it had applied to what was then the European Economic Community. The country's bid faced several setbacks in the following years, including military coups that had shook the country in almost every decade and the Turkish 1974 military incursion in Cyprus. The new push came in 1987 when Ankara formally applied forfull membership to the European Economic Community. Joint Parliamentary Committee talks began the following year and the European Council granted a formal candidate status to the Turkish nation in 1999.

Ironically, Turkey-EU ties were unprecedentedly robust during Erdogans first years in power thanks to successive political reforms that were passed by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). In 2005, the bloc started full membership negotiations with Turkey.

What slowed down the momentum was reciprocal: European powerhouses including France and Germany have never dropped their objections to Turkeys EU bid and the AKPs drift away from the political reform agenda. Greek Cyprus EU membership in 2004 has further complicated the efforts. After guaranteeing their accession to the bloc before a historical popular vote aiming to reunify ethnically divided island, Greek Cypriots overwhelmingly vetoed the referendum. While Greek Cyprus became an EU member in 2004, Turkish Cyprus is only recognized by Ankara.

The ties began to seriously deteriorate after the late 2010s. Embroiled in a row with a former ally, the US-based Sunni cleric Fethullah Gulens and his followers, Erdogan turned to nationalists to form a new political alliance that would keep him in power. Following the end of the peace process in 2015 with the Kurdish militants fighting for self-rule inside Turkey, the government launcheda heavy crackdown against the dissent.

The 2016 coup attempt sent relations to rock bottom. While EU capitals were lambasting Turkeys extension of post-coup attempt crackdown from putschiststo journalists, dissidents and intellectuals, Ankara was livid at Brussels over the tepid response that the EU gave in the face of an attempt aiming to overthrow the countrys democratically elected government.

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Is Turkey ready to join European Union as Erdogan jump-starts its bid? - Al-Monitor

UN Secretary-General Antnio Guterres is in the Belgian capital to participate in the second high-level dialogue between the global body and the European Union (EU), following on from a meeting last July.

The two days of talks will centre around issues that include Russias invasion of Ukraine and its ripple effects worldwide, climate change, and the promise and perils of the digital revolution.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed the blocs steadfast commitment to the strong partnership with the UN in the face of these unprecedented challenges.

We both know that we can only tackle these through international cooperation, now more than ever. And in other word words, this means that the world needs the United Nations now more than ever, she said.

Ms. von der Leyen provided an overview of the agenda for their talks, including the big topic of Ukraine grain exports amid the ongoing war.

She thanked the Secretary-General for his tireless efforts to extend the Black Sea Grain Initiative, the UN-brokered deal signed last July that is set to expire within days.

The world needs it, she said. Russia has a responsibility to prolong it, otherwise global food insecurity will be the consequence. So now the ball is in President Putin's court, and the world is watching.

She also underlined EU support for the peace plan put forward by Ukraines President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy because it is based precisely on the principles of the UN Charter and every word is deducted from UN resolutions.

Mr. Guterres noted that the dialogue is taking place at a time when international cooperation is challenged at its core. He thanked the EU for its contributions to UN efforts in areas such as climate action, sustainable development, peace and security, human rights and gender equality.

We live in an ever more multipolar world, and this calls for enhanced forms of cooperation and multilateral governance, anchored in international law. And the European Union must be an essential pillar of this new global order, he said.

He underscored the need to work together to bridge political divides and rebuild trust among countries, warning that we do not have a moment to lose.

With sustainable development efforts off-track, Mr. Guterres highlighted how the EU can play a role in transforming the global financial system so that it works for everyone and fulfills its role as a global safety net.

On climate change, he underlined the need for greater international cooperation on both mitigation and climate justice. The UN chief repeated his call for a climate solidarity pact that would see wealthier polluting nations make an extra effort to cut emissions.

He further stressed the need for governments, regional organisations, the private sector and civil society to ensure that technology serves both human rights and the common good.

The initial high-level dialogue between the EU and the UN was held in July 2022 just outside New York City.

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UN needed 'now more than ever': European Commission President - UN News

The February earthquakes disrupted daily life in the 11 provinces in Trkiye, including the functioning of the health system. While access to healthcare services became one of the most urgent needs in the earthquake area, European Union (EU) Member States set up field hospitals to contribute to meeting the demand.

Hospitals and pharmacies were destroyed in the earthquake. Doctors and medics died. In such a case, field hospitals played a vital role in the earthquake zone, says academician Bar Turul, a volunteer interpreter at Spanish Field Hospital in Hatay.

Bar Turul, the volunteer interpreter at Spanish Field Hospital.

Turul states that on his first day at the field hospital, he worked from 9 in the morning to 11 at night, except for half an hour for lunch and dinner. He says: The doctor with whom I worked that day treated 115 patients. I was not the only interpreter because it was a big field hospital; there were two pharmacies and many polyclinics, from obstetrics and paediatrics to physiotherapy and surgery. He adds that the Spanish staff established good relationships with

the region's people and people were grateful for both the hospital and this solidarity.

The field hospitals treated thousands of earthquake savers.

Solidarity in the field of health

Doctor Servet Alkan, a survivor of the earthquake in Hatay, emphasises the importance of solidarity in the field of health. He says:

Lots of my doctor friends, including me, brought their families to the safe cities and voluntarily returned to Hatay. We started to work with colleagues coming from other cities in the infirmaries established by associations, syndicates and NGOs after the earthquakes. Accessing medical equipment was a problem on the first days. Some friends from Antalya and Bolu sent us a truck of blood serum and medical equipment on the third day. This support from other cities continued for the next few days. Then we had great support from friends from the Turkish Pharmacists Association. Meanwhile, the field hospitals set up by many countries cared for earthquake victims and provided a transfer service to full-fledged hospitals.

The Italian Field Hospital team.

Solidarity diminishes the pain

Ambassador Kemal Bozay, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Trkiye Republic, in the inauguration of the digital photography exhibition Stronger Together on the 9 of May, "solidarity" themed Europe Day, said:

We know that solidarity brings more joy and happiness, and also, it diminishes the pain. In the aftermath of the earthquake, which affected 11 provinces and about 16 million people, EU institutions and member states were in solidarity with us which is very valuable.

The EU has supported Turkiye since day one.

Solidarity by the EU

After the earthquakes, the Netherlands deployed a medical evacuation plane via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. Some 2,000 tents, 8,000 beds and 500 relief-housing units equipped with 2,500 beds were mobilised via the reserves of the rescEU in Romania and Sweden, an extra layer of citizen protection integrated into the Mechanism. Via the Mechanism, 21 EU Member States, together with 4 Participating States under the Mechanism, offered 32 search and rescue teams and 7 medical teams, some of them arriving at the earthquake sites already on the first day to start their search for survivors. In addition to first responders, five field hospitals from Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and Spain were sent to Trkiye via the Mechanism. These field hospitals allowed them to treat thousands of people, and some medical equipment was later donated to Trkiye.

Ambassador Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut visited Belgian Field Hospital in Hatay.

EU funds the largest field hospital in the world

Ambassador Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut, Head of the EU Delegation to Trkiye, who visited the Belgian Field Hospital in Krkhan, Hatay, on the 28th of February, says, All field hospitals from the European Union provided very professional and high-quality services to Turkish citizens. They helped to relieve the burden on existing Turkish hospitals after the earthquake. The operations in the earthquake area were a perfect example of a successful and coordinated European approach. And now, besides the EU continuing to assist the people in the earthquake area, the European Commission is allocating 106.2 million to 8 countries, including Trkiye, to develop the new rescEU Emergency Medical Team capacity following natural or man-made disasters. With this joint initiative, we'll reach the capacity of the biggest field hospital in Europe. As I mentioned before in Krkhan, Trkiye can count on our support and solidarity, now and beyond.

The European Commission is allocating 106.2 million to 8 countries, including Trkiye.

The countries allocated budget by the European Commission are Trkiye, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, and Romania, within the scope of rescEU.

Emphasising the spirit of solidarity, Lus Meira, the President of the Portugal National Institute of Medical Emergency (INEM), tells Lusa News Agency, The countries response capacity is not sufficient to respond to situations that often do not respect the countries borders.

Due to this reason, being part of this project is vital for the countries. Hans Das, the European Commissions Director of Emergency Management, says that the rescEU EMT project will strengthen the countries emergency teams during natural disasters or pandemics.

According to Hans Das, the field hospital is very necessary and will be more necessary because of the constant risk of large natural hazards in Europe and the world, such as volcanos, earthquakes and other sudden-onset disasters, but also because of the changing risk landscape, which exposes us to new types of disaster risks. He adds that it is expected to be the largest field hospital in the world.

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The field hospitals from the European Union played a vital role in the earthquake zone | EEAS - EEAS

The full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine has had devastating consequences for the health-care system. Keeping essential and resilient health services up and running in the country is a herculean task. Despite the heroic efforts of health-care staff treating patients close to the frontline, those in need of specialized treatment have to be treated in more centrally located hospitals or, in some cases, outside of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Health coordinates medical evacuation (medevac) operations, which involve hundreds of daily patient transfers inside the country and dozens of cross-border transfers each week. This includes the European Union (EU) medevac pathway which has been running since the full-scale invasion began.

Thanks to the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, more than 2350 Ukrainian patients have been transferred to hospitals in 21 European countries. The patients suffer from severe war wounds or conditions that cannot currently be easily treated inside Ukraine, such as cancers requiring specialized treatments and conditions necessitating rehabilitation support. Over 370 patients have requested and been supported to return to Ukraine once the acute phase of their treatment has ended.

On 22June, WHO/Europe in Copenhagen, Denmark, hosted the launch of an 18-month project funded by the European Commissions Service for Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI) entitled Strengthening the Ukrainian Ministry of Health accountability framework for medical evacuation and repatriation systems and services.

The project will help the Ukrainian Ministry of Health to further develop and formalize the procedures of their dedicated Medevac Coordination Unit, particularly the new efforts being made to ensure the safe return of patients who have finished acute treatment abroad and wish to continue rehabilitation in their home country.

The new project will provide technical and resource support to the Ukrainian Ministry of Health, the Medevac Coordination Unit and the Emergency Medical Services. Targeted expertise and specialist service support include burns care, multidisciplinary war trauma surgical care, and critical care patient transfers and rehabilitation inside Ukraine, which will strengthen the trauma care systems and pathways.

Health-care staff in Ukraine will also benefit from training, including shoulder-to-shoulder and bedside teaching approaches, which will strengthen their ability to manage complex health-care cases in Ukraine.

Medical evacuations are an essential part of the EUs emergency support to Ukraine, commented MrPeter M.Wagner, Head of the FPI. Russias full-scale invasion leaves military and civilians heavily wounded while also ruining health-care infrastructure. In coordination with the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, our new project will further help alleviate the pressure on Ukraines health-care system, helping evacuated patients to return and integrate into national rehabilitation schemes, while also supporting provision of the best possible care for patients.

The event also served as the first meeting of the steering committee working collaboratively with all stakeholders involved in medevac and repatriation activities managed by the Ministry of Healths Medevac Coordination Unit. The meeting was attended by representatives from all implementing partners and institutions to present their roles in the project and strengthen working relationships to ensure successful implementation of the activities.

Medevac remains an essential component of the humanitarian effort to meet the health needs of patients who cannot be treated inside Ukraine at this moment, explained DrGerald Rockenschaub, WHO Regional Emergency Director for Europe.

Safe transfer of patients across borders requires all partners to work together effectively and efficiently to ensure that people can get the lifesaving treatment they desperately need. We welcome this opportunity to build on our relationship with our partners, both in the EU and other institutions.

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European Union and WHO join forces to further strengthen medical ... - World Health Organization

Biological invasions are a major threat to ecosystems, biodiversity, and human well-being, resulting in ecosystem degradation and causing economic costs in the multi-trillions of euros globally. A study led by McGill University sheds light on the stark economic cost resulting from biological invasions in the European Union (EU).

The European Union continues to be exposed to thousands of invasive alien species -- harmful species introduced by humans from outside of their natural habitat. The EU is particularly vulnerable because the region's volume of economic activity via trade and the transportation of goods increases the risks of biological invasions, according to the study published in Environmental Sciences Europe.

Most invasive alien species are not adequately assessed for their actual and potential economic impacts therefore most cost estimates are grossly underestimated, say the researchers. To fill this gap, the team quantified the economic costs of biological invasions to the European Union, while estimating future invasion costs using predictive models.

Costs potentially 501% higher than previously recorded

Their findings are alarming -- of the approximately 13,000 invasive alien species known to have established populations in the European Union, only 259 (around 1%) have reported costs, showing substantial knowledge gaps in cost assessments regionally. The researchers' models projected unreported costs to be potentially 501% higher than currently recorded, reaching a staggering 26.64 billion (US$28.0 billion) in the European Union, led by countries such as Lithuania, Malta, and Czech Republic.

The study's projections for future estimates revealed a substantial increase in costs, with estimates soaring to more than 142.73 billion (US$150 billion) by 2040 in the absence of effective management.

"Our study reveals a shocking underestimation of the economic costs of biological invasions in the European Union. These costs are not only a huge burden for the European Union's economy, but also jeopardise the ecological balance and well-being of societies," says lead author Morgane Henry, a PhD student under the supervision of McGill University Professor Brian Leung.

"It is imperative that we take immediate action to enhance cost reporting, identify the most concerning economic impacts, and work together on a global scale to address the threat posed by invasive alien species," she adds.

The researchers warn that policymakers, scientists, and stakeholders should take heed of the implications of the study and collaborate to protect ecosystems, safeguard biodiversity, and ensure the well-being of communities. Otherwise, biological invasions will create an insurmountable financial burden unless the EU and its governments take swift action to address the devastating ecological impact that's happening.

"The costs are potentially huge, but in most cases we just don't know. Notably, our fivefold increase in cost estimates included only 1% of species with existing data, by extrapolating to other countries where they are known to have invaded, but where costs have not been estimated yet. We don't know about the other 99% of the species," says Professor Brian Leung of McGill University's Department of Biology.

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Alien invasion: Study reveals alarming economic costs of biological ... - Science Daily