Egemen Bağış’s Visit to Brussels

Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bağış visited Brussels on November 5, 2013. Minister Bağış first of all, attended the “Boosting Youth and Social Innovation in the EU” Seminar, organized by KAGİDER (Women Entrepreneurs Association of Türkiye) Brussels Office.

After the seminar, Minister Bağış and Cevdet Yılmaz, Minister of Development, met with Linas Linkevicius, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Lithuania. Following the meeting, Intergovernmental Accession Conference started and Chapter 22 (Regional policy and Coordination of Structural Instruments) opened at the Conference. The Turkish delegation at the Intergovernmental Accession Conference was led by Egemen Bağış, Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator, and Cevdet Yılmaz, Minister of Development. The European Commission was represented by Stefan Füle, Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy; and Council of the European Union was represented by Linas Linkevicius, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Lithuania.

After the Conference, Minister Bağış, together with Minister Yılmaz, first attended the common press conference with the EU delegation and then organized another press conference with representatives from Turkish media.

Bağış stated that the opening of the new chapter was a milestone in Türkiye-EU relations. Bağış also emphasized that, the membership of Türkiye has the potential of turning the EU from a continental peace project into a global one. Following the press conferences, within the context of Brussels visit, Minister Bağış and Minister Yılmaz attended the lunch organized by İzmir Expo 2020 General Secretary. Minister Bağış finally received the representatives of Western Thrace Turkish Federation, and then went to Helsinki to accompany the official visit of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to Finland.