EU ready to re-engage with Turkey, but sets conditions

European Union foreign ministers agreed on Thursday that the bloc should re-engage with Turkey, but set some conditions and did not endorse Ankara's calls to revive its moribund membership bid.

Turkey has been an official candidate to join the EU for 24 years, but accession talks have stalled since 2016 over the bloc's concerns about human rights violations and respect for the rule of law.

But on July 10, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, in an unexpected move, called for a re-opening of Ankara's accession talks, linking the idea to Turkey's approval of Sweden's bid to join the NATO military alliance.

"We discussed how to re-engage with Turkey," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a press conference after a meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers in Brussels.

"We are convinced there is a reciprocal interest to develop a stronger relationship...