Courtesy of Mish.
Give the Devil His Due
The devil let out a big round of applause as Merkel reached an agreement with the devil that will open the floodgates for 75 million Turkish citizens to pour into Eurozone countries.
As part of the deal, the devil demanded and received more cash.
Merkel caved in for political expediency. In the process, senior EU diplomats accused the chancellor of backstabbing. Others described Merkel’s methods “brutal”.
In the end, political expediency won out over common sense. It always does.
Devil Cheers Loudly
Despite the fact that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a de-facto dictator who just took over Turkey’s largest newspaper with a violent teargas raid by riot police, Merkel was anxious for a deal with Erdogan and got one.
Please consider Turkey Cheers Migrant Deal that Promises Visa-Free EU Travel.
As Turkish negotiators left for Brussels on Monday to hammer out a deal over the stream of refugees arriving in Europe via Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan instructed them to come back with hard cash.
Led by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, they not only negotiated a doubling to €6bn of the sum the EU would pay to Turkey to cover the costs of hosting 2.7m refugees, they also secured potentially more valuable concessions, including early approval for visa-free travel for Turkish citizens into the EU’s Schengen zone and revisiting access to European markets.
Earlier threats by Mr Erdogan to start busing refugees to Greece, his private belittling of EU officials and a series of last-minute demands were not enough to outweigh the need for a deal.
Merkel’s Big Gamble
The Financial Times reports Angela Merkel Takes Big Gamble on Migration Deal with Turkey.
