EU Commission Jean Claude Juncker had spoken after the summit between European Union administrators and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Varna, and stated that 3 billion Euros were to be delivered to Ankara as part of the refugee deal as soon as possible.

But Turkey not spending the 3 billion Euros they previously received as part of the refugee deal on the actual refugees themselves has caused a crisis in Brussels. Ankara was supposed to spend the funds on the health and education needs and employment options for the refugees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

The German weekly journal Der Spiegel published an article on their website that says Turkey not yet implementing the projects they already received funds for has caused a serious stir among European Union countries. The countries responsible for providing the money resist Brussels to avoid paying up the remaining sum, and that this is putting the refugee deal at risk.

500 MILLION EUROS FROM GERMANY TO ANKARA

A third of the first 3 billion Euros paid to the Ankara regime had come from the EU, and the rest was distibuted among member states according to the size of their budgets. With the strongest economy in the EU, Germany had to pay some 500 million Euros according to this calculation.

EU Commission wants to pay the 3 billion Euros in the second package to Ankara with a similar calculation, but Germany and France, Austria, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and other countries are objecting to Brussels, citing that the Erdoğan government is not implementing the projects they already received funds for.

These countries have submitted a joint appeal to the European Commission to have the rest of the payment come out of the EU budget. Der Spiegel also obtained documents from a meeting in Brussels with the member states, and included a comment by a German government representative: “The second package should not be delivered until projects prepared together with Turkey are implemented.

MONEY LOST, PROJECTS CAN’T START

Last week, the international media organization European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) had revealed that the refugee deal is not going as smoothly as it is made out to look. According to the EIC investigation, the money given to Turkey to be spent on refugees has been lost, and the projects the EU has sent funds for can not be implemented.

Only half of the projects for humanitarian aid for refugeees have been implemented to date. And these projets that are claimed to have been implemented are not supervised. The EU provided prioritized funding for hospitals and schools for refugees, but the Erdoğan regime takes the money in cash, while the construction never seems to start.

For instance, Turkey has been given 90 million Euros for hospitals to be built in Hatay and Kilis, but neither one of the constructions has started. According to the EIC, only 8 out of 39 schools planned have broken ground. And, where the 15 million Euros given to the Turkish Chambers, Unions and Markets Association was spent is not being normal.