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| EU leaders reach deal on migration at European Council summit | EU leaders reach deal on migration at European Council summit |
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| Following nearly ten hours of tense deliberation, the leaders of the 28 European Union member states have reached an agreement on the migration issue. | Following nearly ten hours of tense deliberation, the leaders of the 28 European Union member states have reached an agreement on the migration issue. |
| “EU28 leaders have agreed on (summit) conclusions, including on migration,” the European Council president Donald Tusk said. | “EU28 leaders have agreed on (summit) conclusions, including on migration,” the European Council president Donald Tusk said. |
| Pressed by Italy’s concerns, eventually the 28 leaders agreed to reform the asylum system by consensus and to include a clause on hosting migrants across EU countries on a voluntary basis, according to Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. Part of the agreement gives Italy and Greece options to set up migrant centers on their soil if they so choose, Chancellor of Austria Sebastian Kurz noted. | |
| German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose 'Open Door' refugee policy has arguably contributed to the current migrant influx into Europe, welcomed the outcome of the negotiations, noting, however, that there is a lot more work to be done to overcome EU-wide differences. | |
| “Overall, after an intensive discussion on the most challenging theme for the European Union, namely migration, it is a good signal that we agreed a common text,” Merkel said. “We still have a lot of work to do to bridge the different views.” | |
| The talks, which concluded at about 4:30am Friday, also included an agreement to increase border security and speed up the process of handling the petitioner's right to asylum and of extraditing those who don't qualify. A key Italian demand, to overhaul the rules for distributing migrants when the port-of-entry country is overwhelmed, was reportedly also agreed on. | |
| Earlier in the day, Italy’s prime minister Giuseppe Conte had refused to approve an EU summit statement on the issue of migration. Italy, which has been at the frontline of the struggle to cope with the influx of refugees, demanded that EU states share the burden of handling migrants that come into that country via the Mediterranean. | Earlier in the day, Italy’s prime minister Giuseppe Conte had refused to approve an EU summit statement on the issue of migration. Italy, which has been at the frontline of the struggle to cope with the influx of refugees, demanded that EU states share the burden of handling migrants that come into that country via the Mediterranean. |
| Conte, who was appointed as Prime Minister on June 1, now leads a heavily eurosceptic government comprising two anti-establishment parties, Lega Nord and the Five-Star Movement. The stance, by this first-time attendee of a European Union summit, forced Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to cancel a news conference planned for Thursday evening. | |
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