Off the wire
• British FTSE 100 rises 0.47 pct on Thursday  • U.S. eases sanctions on Russian intelligence agency  • Ghana's new government pledges fiscal discipline  • Int'l community calls on Albanian citizens to help ensure smooth elections  • Feature: Despite Italy's growing migration burden, Milan sticks to open attitude  • Macedonia's economy to grow by 3.5 pct in 2017: central bank  • Europol steps up cooperation in fighting wildlife trafficking  • Roundup: Finland discusses alleged discrimination against dual nationals  • Putin, Orban agree on necessity of strengthening cooperation in fight against terrorism  • Android-users asked to record din in noisiest Swiss city  
You are here: 　 Home

EU to stem irregular migration flow from Libya to Europe: Tusk

Xinhua, February 3, 2017 Adjust font size:

European Council President Donald Tusk said on Thursday the aim of Friday's informal meeting in Malta is to stem the flow of irregular migration from Libya to Europe.

"This is the only way to stop people dying in the deserts and at sea. This is also the only way to gain control over migration in Europe," Tusk said on the eve of the summit.

He said "this goal is within our reach" after his talks with Italian Prime Minister Gentiloni on Wednesday in Rome and this morning with Libyan Prime Minister Al-Sarraj on bilateral cooperation.

He added he also had talks with other EU leaders, including French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel about bilateral cooperation between Italy and Libya.

"We agreed on the need to support Italy in this cooperation, especially the Memorandum of Understanding which should be signed in Rome," he said.

He stressed Europe should and will stand by Italy in sharing the responsibility.

In the morning session of the 28 EU heads of state conference, they will address the external dimension of migration and are expected to focus their discussions on the Central Mediterranean route and Libya. Endit