The European Union is going to punish more Turks and Turkish companies for drilling for gas in disputed parts of the Mediterranean.
All EU countries can live with that, say senior EU diplomats. EU leaders on Thursday took stock of relations with Turkey, which have not improved despite the threat of sanctions.
Last year, the EU imposed sanctions for the first time because of the Turkish search for gas in waters claimed by neighbouring Cyprus, for example.
But so far only two officials of the Turkish state oil company have been punished. They can no longer access deposits in European banks and are no longer allowed into the EU.
The sanctions list will first be expanded to include several other persons, a senior EU diplomat thinks. Companies or organizations may also follow.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Tuesday that he assumed such sanctions were being prepared and “can imagine that they will be decided this week”.