Europe sets out migrant swap deal as Turkey warns against ‘refugee bargaining’

European leaders are presenting their plans to send thousands of migrants and refugees to Turkey to the country’s prime minister on Friday. They hope to get Ahmet Davutoglu’s support for the one-for-one swap deal which they thrashed out at a session ending late the night before. As he arrived for the talks in Brussels, Mr Davutoglu warned there would be no bargaining over the plight of refugees. But he added: "Of course the EU and Turkey have the same goal, the same objective to help Syrian refugees… I am sure … we will be achieving our goal.“

For Turkey, the refugee issue is not an issue of bargaining but an issue of values, humanitarian values as well as European values

Turkish prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu

Europe is counting on the agreement to curb an unprecedented wave of migrants, 1.2 million of whom have arrived since the start of 2015, fuelled by the war in Syria. Turkey will exact a heavy price, including billions of euros in aid and accelerated entry to the European Union, despite concerns about its human rights record. German chancellor Angela Merkel said the deal was a "good opportunity to stop the business of human traffickers”. But Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite warned the plan was “very complicated, will be very difficult to implement and is on the edge of international law”.

I can’t accept negotiations which sometimes look like they are a form of blackmail.

Belgian prime minister Charles Michel voices concerns over Turkey’s rights record