EU leaders claim crucial deal to tackle migrants
Plan proposes screening of migrants for asylum eligibility
European Union leaders claimed a breakthrough deal on Friday on how to deal with the pressures of migration after all- night talks helped accommodate Italian demands for more help.
The EU leaders said that the agreement would bolster the bloc’s external borders and improve the solidarity among member nations to ease pressure on point- of- entry nations like Greece and Italy.
The plan proposes screening migrants in North Africa for asylum eligibility and setting up control centres within the bloc by nations which would volunteer to have them.
Beyond demands from Italy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel also faced intense domestic pressure to find a breakthrough to stave off a government crisis at home.
“We got a European solution and a work of cooperation,” said French President Emmanuel Macron.
For several years now, EU nations have been trying to stem the flow of those making the perilous journey to the continent by sea, part of a desperate attempt to shore up EU unity on an issue that has helped fuel a political crisis in several member nations.
“We are not an island,” Macron said. “Europe will have to live a long time with such migratory pressures which come from countries in crisis, poor countries.”
No North African countries have agreed so far to sign on to the plan, though possible EU funding that could bring billions in aid may prove persuasive.
Italy long held up any interim agreements at the summit unless it received concrete commitments the country would get help managing the waves of newcomers that arrive from across the Mediterranean.
“Italy doesn’t need any more verbal signs, but concrete deeds,” Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte said, insisting that the responsibility needed to be shared more equitably across the EU.
As so many EU agreements, Friday’s deal stopped well short of being decisive in solving the problem but created enough of a platform to build on.
“Europe is going step by step, and this was necessary,” said Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
Details are sketchy, but the proposed EU plan involves erecting a virtual wall in northern Africa by placing people who try to leave for Europe in centres in countries like Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Niger and Tunisia. European Union funds would be used to persuade the countries to sign on, though none has signalled interest so far.
Morocco’s director of migration and border surveillance, Khalid Zerouali, told the Associated Press that the kingdom isn’t interested in hosting a station for screening migrants, saying “that’s not the solution.”
Migrants sometimes use Morocco as a jumping- off point to reach Spain, which has seen a surge in migrants coming across by sea this year. Mr Zerouali said that some 25,000 have been stopped so far this year.
The International Organisation for Migration estimates that some 80,000 people will enter Europe by sea this year, based on current trends. That’s around half as many as in 2017.
Yet anti- migrant parties have made significant political gains, most recently in Italy, which along with Greece and Spain is among the preferred landing destinations for people from Africa seeking better lives.
Ms Merkel, for her part, is fighting a battle at home and abroad against critics who accuse her of endangering European security with her hospitality. Her conservative coalition is under pressure from the far- right Alternative for Germany.