The European Union (EU) should make official its position on Turkey’s accession process, Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said on Friday from Tallinn, Esthonia, where he attended an informal meeting of European diplomatic chiefs, The Brussels Times writes.

“For us, it’s very clear; the process is frozen,” Reynders said.

The Turkish Minister of European Affairs, Ömer Celik, attended the meeting of European countries and accession candidates on Friday morning.

The negotiations on Turkey’s accession, begun in 2005, had received a boost with the EU-Turkey Agreement on the management of refugees, concluded in March 2016. However, the failed coup d’état in July of that year, and the subsequent repression against various sections of Turkish society, put a de-facto freeze on the talks.

"The European Commission must say what initiative to take,” Reynders said. The European Commissioner for Enlargement Negotiations, Johannes Hahn, should “officially state the EU’s position”, he added. 

“We cannot do as if we’re going to relaunch” the process, the Belgian Foreign Minister said. “As long as there is no positive evolution, there is no question of moving ahead.”

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