Rewarding Turkish blackmail is a dangerous game - UKIP Leader Nigel Farage

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• published: 02 Dec 2015
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http://www.ukipmeps.org | http://www.ukip.org/join • European Parliament, Brussels, 02 December 2015 • Nigel Farage MEP, Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), Co-President of the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD) Group in the European Parliament - http://www.nigelfaragemep.co.uk @Nigel_Farage - Bluecard Qustion: Ivo VAJGL MEP (Slovenia), Liberal group (ALDE) • Debate: EU-Turkey summit - Council and Commission statements [2015/3004(RSP)] Transcript: The European Union has made many mistakes during my time here. I’ve seen the invention of a currency that has impoverished the Mediterranean, I’ve seen the idealised Schengen area lead to the free movement of Kalashnikovs and every single week and month we see the attempt to create a single state of Europe, which of course the European peoples don’t want. But the EU’s common asylum policy is the lowest ebb for policy yet. Chancellor Merkel took the cork out of a champagne bottle and said anyone could come and now you’re trying to put the cork back in and realising its not possible. So you’ve turned to somebody else to sort out your own problem, so let’s talk Turkey. They have taken your weakness and they’ve now decided they’re going to blackmail you. Not only do they want three billion euros from you this year, they’re gonna want three billion euros from you every single year and in return, they’ve given absolutely no guarantees whatsoever that they will stop people from coming or indeed take people back. And they’ve managed to persuade you, whatever the Commissioner says, into offering them by October next year visa free access for 75 million people whose average GDP income is half that of the poorest EU Member State. I guess what you’re doing is you’re saying is that the way we will stop illegal immigration, a country whose 97 percent of land mass is in Asia, apparently you want to join Europe. It is a country that appears to be keener on bombing the Kurds than it is on taking on ISIS. It is a country that has turned a complete blind eye to ISIS fighters travelling through its territory. It is a country according to the Pew Institute whose poll last week showed that 8 percent of those 75 million actively encourage and support the aims of ISIS. It is a country directly and closely linked with buying ISIS oil and we will finish up bordering Syria, Iraq and Iran. It is mad, it is the most dangerous decision the European Union has yet taken. I’m sure the British Prime Minister will be delighted; he’s campaigned for this since 2005. To me without any of the other debate, if there was one single reason why Britain should, in this referendum, vote to leave the European Union it is the folly of political integration with Turkey. It is not only stupid it is damned dangerous. Question about which other country could make a contribution and whether Nigel supported British wars in the Middle East in the past. Believe you me I was no supporter of Tony Blair’s endless series of wars and if I was in a different parliament and not this one, I would vote against the bombing campaign that Mr Cameron wishes to join the Americans and French because it has been badly thought through with no long term strategy whatsoever. Look, if you want to deal with the problem you’ve caused yourself in life, rather than relying on somebody else to do it for you, perhaps it better to recognise and realise you’ve made a mistake and the only solution open to the EU is to follow the example of Australia who from 2008 onwards had a lot of boats heading towards their country, a lot of boats sinking, a lot of people drowning, many of the similar symptoms and problems and they Australians said if you wish to become a refugee or a migrant to Australia you will not succeed in doing so if you come via this route and the boats stopped coming. The EU needs to have the moral courage to stand up and say that but frankly they haven’t got the guts. .................... • Video: EbS (European Parliament) .................................. • EU Member States: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Spain, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, United Kingdom