Withdrawal from the European Union

Turkish Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan has told the ambassadors of EU countries in Ankara that Turkey is waiting for the European Commission to renew the 1996 customs union agreement.

"Your contributions in this sense are exceptionally important. We invite you to work with the business world," she said at a meeting with the EU Delegation to Turkey on Feb. 26.

It is the wont of presidents of the European Council to lock the doors when things get tough.

Following the footsteps of his predecessor European Council President Charles Michel warned last week that European leaders who are today attending an extraordinary summit will not leave Brussels until they have reached agreement on the EU's 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework.

Alternate Foreign Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, who is responsible for European affairs, on Tuesday expressed Greece's dissatisfaction over the the bloc's long-term budget for the next seven years, also known as the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027, as EU funds for cohesion policy and common agricultural policy remain at low levels.

It is critical for Turkey and the United Kingdom to sign a trade deal by the end of this year in order to avoid any negative implication on the two countries' trade volume after Brexit, said Osman Okyay, the chairman of the Turkey-U.K. Business Council.

Before Greece risked falling out of the eurozone in 2015, Alexis Tsipras made his famous kolotoumba (somersault). At present, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson shows little sign of backing down on his ambitious Brexit agenda, though there are many opinions implying that his is also a reckless gamble.

The European Commission is forecasting a bigger growth for the Greek economy in 2019, a modest growth for 2020, and stable in 2021, based on its report released Thursday.

Real GDP in Greece is forecast to reach 2.4 percent in 2020 (compared with a previous forecast for 2.3 pct) and 2.0 percent in 2021.

MEP Vincze Lorant has been appointed as permanent rapporteur by the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) of the European Parliament for the negotiations on the new EU-UK collaboration framework.

The Ankara Agreement and Customs Union with Turkey will continue during the Brexit transition period of 2020, and the two countries will work to sign a bilateral free trade agreement to be put into effect as of Jan. 1, 2021, British Ambassador to Ankara Sir Dominick Chilcott said on Feb. 7.

The European Union's new economy commissioner says Greece's bailout lenders are willing to discuss a request by Athens to ease strict budget targets that would help speed up the country's recovery.

Already in December 2016, I noted, the Brexit referendum and the election of Donald Trump as US president signified the end of Euro-Atlantic project as it had existed in the Western Balkans. The subsequent three years have borne out the truth of this assessment.

Flags fly outside parliament event at 10 Downing Street in London, Britain. Photo: EPA-EFE/ANDY RAIN