EU leaders set to discuss COVID-19, EU budget

​​​​​​​By Rabia Iclal Turan

ANKARA (AA) - EU leaders gathered in Brussels on Thursday for two days of discussions on the EU budget and COVID-19 as well as several global issues.

EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters in a doorstep statement that transatlantic ties and relations with Turkey will also be on the leader's agenda, adding: “The Foreign Affairs Council reviewed the latest events and we cannot provide a positive assessment on Turkey.”

He also said the council will discuss the relations with the US on the “prospects of the new presidency”, noting that the EU and US have been at “bumpy roads” over recent years.

Brexit is not on the official agenda of the meeting, but European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is expected to brief leaders on the status of the talks.

Reminding her meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Wednesday, she said: ”We are willing to grant access to the single market to our British friends, it's the largest single market in the world. But the conditions have to be fair.

“They have to be fair for our workers and for our companies,” she stressed.

She added that they will reach a decision on Sunday.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said the negotiations on the EU budget will be an "important one", adding: "We are just one inch from reaching a consensus."

Amid recent tensions in the region, Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration have raised their pressure on other EU members to impose sanctions on Turkey at the EU leaders’ summit on Thursday and Friday.

To date, the EU's current term president, Germany, and most EU members have been reluctant to take such action.

Turkey, which has the longest continental coastline in the Eastern Mediterranean, has rejected the maritime boundary claims of Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration, stressing that these excessive claims violate the sovereign rights of both Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots.

Ankara has sent several drill ships in recent months to explore for energy resources in the Eastern Mediterranean, asserting its own rights in the region, as well as those of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Turkish leaders have repeatedly stressed that Ankara is in favor of resolving all outstanding problems in the region through international law, good neighborly relations, dialogue, and negotiation.