Top EU diplomat hails close ties with Turkey

EU's top diplomat in Turkey on Monday hailed the bloc's close ties with Ankara on the occasion of May 9, Europe Day.

Turkey, a candidate country, is a member of many EU programs, Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut said in an interview with Anadolu Agency.

Referring to the importance of Europe Day, he stressed it initiated the beginning of the European project.

"The basic message of Europe Day is peace, is democracy, is cooperation, is human rights," Landrut said.

The EU project allowed Europeans to enjoy peace, freedom, and wealth, he said, adding that values of freedom, protection of human rights, and rule of law, however, lay at the center of the project.

Referring to the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war, Landrut asserted that it was Russian aggression that led to the war.

As a result, he said, we see war again on the European continent at an unprecedented scale since World War II.