Two stories dramatizing the passivity of EU leadership on EU foreign policy

These two stories provide yet another warning sign that the EU's unwillingness and/or inability to address key vulnerabilities of which it very continue to erode is external effectiveness and internal cohesion:

David Hersezenhorn, October 26, 2020 8:08 By sea and land, Turkey raises tensions with EU Politico EU 10/26/2020

Nicola Zolin, From compassion to fortress Europe — the migration crisis in pictures Politico EU 10/26/2020

Once again, Turkey is currently hosting around 3.5 million refugees, the largest number of any country in the world. That is part of a formal agreement with the EU. The EU pays them to keep the refugees.

The EU's ability to maintain its current immigration/refugee policies based on the Dublin System is currently extremely dependent on Turkey's willingness to hold those refugees. This puts a severe limitation on EU nations' ability to deal with unwanted policies by Turkey, whether it's with Greece in the Aegean Sea, with the civil war in Libya, or the renewed military conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Politicians in Germany and Austria periodically like to grouse about the influence of Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan's party on ethnic Turks in their countries. Whatever substance those complaints contain - and there is some - it never seems to rise to a significant change in policy.

As long as EU leaders continue to tremble in fear at the prospect of changing the Dublin System, those limitations will continue.

Lots of juggling of priorities involved in foreign policy.

And Turkey is causing waves in various places, as Joshua Keating reports in Why Is Turkey Suddenly Fighting With Everyone? Slate 10/28/2020.