Swift accord on aid to Turkey, Berlin tells Rome

(ANSA) - Berlin, January 20 - Germany told Italy Wednesday that a swift accord was needed to free up a three-billion-euro package of aid to Turkey for migrants which Rome is blocking because of the way it is being funded. "We deem it necessary to quickly conclude the accord," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert in Berlin. Italy wants to see more of the aid, aimed at helping Turkey cope with a huge migrant influx from Syria and Iraq, funded by the EU rather than by member States. The issue is one of several which have fuelled a row between Rome and Brussels.