On Sunday, during a televised debate for the upcoming German Federal elections, current Prime Minister Angela Merkel said:

The fact is clear that Turkey should not become a member of the EU. I’ll speak to my (EU) colleagues to see if we can reach a joint position on this so that we can end these accession talks.

This shift in Merkel’s position has been met with various responses. In the EU, Finland and Lithuania have stressed that they want to continue the negotiations, despite Erdogan’s less sub-stellar track record. Lithuanian Social Democrat MP Linas Antanas Linkevi?ius said that:

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