EU-Turkey deal: short-term goals may be achievable

THE European Union (EU) has dangled the prospect that Turkey can join the Union, offered its citizens visa-free travel throughout most of the bloc and promised the government a chunk of cash in return for Ankara agreeing to stem the flow of migrants to Europe. Not all of the pact looks deliverable - but some big issues look closer to being addressed.

On the face of it, the agreement would seem to solve the biggest problem now facing many EU governments - the flood of refugees and economic migrants from Syria, Afghanistan and other countries, most of whom are entering the bloc from Turkey via Greece.

At the same time, it gives Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan a boost when he faces hostility from his other ne…