UK: Turkey-EU visa plan is ‘madness’, UKIP leader says

Plans to liberalise European visa conditions for 75 million Turkish nationals is “bordering on insanity”, the leader of a British anti-EU party has said.

Nigel Farage, whose UK Independence Party (UKIP) wants to withdraw Britain from the European Union, slammed the decision to offer relaxed Schengen visa conditions to Turkish citizens in exchange for stemming the flow of migrants to Europe.

In a statement released from Brussels, where Farage serves as a member of the European Parliament, he said: “This Commission proposal is bordering on insanity. Agreeing to liberalise border requirements for 75 million Turkish nationals is a form of EU madness.”

“From a cost, security and cultural perspective, this is completely the wrong move. If Cameron and Co. allow this to happen it’s the British people who will be the turkeys at Christmas. Yet another reason to leave the EU.”

The visa liberalisation plans will not directly affect the UK, which is outside of the EU’s borderless Schengen zone and operates a separate visa scheme.

But a UKIP spokesman told Anadolu Agency: “The proof of the pudding is in the eating. Schengen visas have a remarkable ability to be overlooked at UK border crossings.”

Cameron has promised a referendum on Britain’s continued EU membership before the end of 2017.