EU throws open the door to more chaos

DOES the EU have a death wish? The Mail asks because of the extraordinary deal signed by European leaders under which 75million Turks will gain the right to enter the continent’s border-free Schengen zone without visas.

Yes, Europe desperately needs Turkey’s help to close its gateway to the waves of humanity pouring into the EU from the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Struggling to cope with 2.2million refugees from Syria alone, Turkey was also entitled to ask a high price for its cooperation in tightening borders and readmitting migrants refused EU entry.

But wasn’t the £2.1billion pledged on Sunday more than generous enough (even before Turkey demanded the same again every year!) without the offer of visa-free travel for Turkish citizens?

All over Europe, Schengen zone nations are reinstating border controls after Angela Merkel’s catastrophic open invitation to migrants (no wonder her approval rating has plunged 25 points).

Meanwhile, the continent is on maximum terrorist alert after the Paris atrocities – one of whose perpetrators came through Turkey on a forged passport.

How can this be a sensible moment to relax visa controls on a country run by a volatile president who is turning it from a secular state into a Muslim theocracy?

More incomprehensible still is the EU’s pledge to speed up talks on offering membership to Turkey, with its vast population and low standard of living.

With net immigration in Britain already running at almost 1,000 a day, doesn’t the case for pulling out of the Brussels club grow stronger every week?