EU claims breakthrough on migrants

Leaders say accord will enhance borders and solidarity among members to ease load on Italy and Greece.

BRUSSELS — After allnight talks that helped accommodate Italian demands for more help, European Union leaders on Friday claimed a breakthrough on dealing with the pressures of migration.

The EU leaders said the agreement would bolster the bloc’s external borders and improve solidarity among member nations to ease pressure on point-of-entry nations such as Greece and Italy.

The plan proposes screening migrants in North Africa for asylum eligibility and setting up control centers in nations within the bloc that would volunteer to have the facilities.

Beyond demands from Italy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel also faced intense domestic pressure to find a remedy to stave off a government crisis at home.

“We’ve got a European solution and a work of cooperation,” French President Emmanuel Macron said.

For years, EU nations have been trying to stem the f low of those making the perilous journey to the continent by sea, part of a desperate attempt to shore up 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 held up any 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 Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said, insisting that the responsibility needed to be shared more equitably across the EU. Friday’s deal stopped well short of being decisive in solving the problem but created a platform to build on.

“Europe is going step by step, and this was necessary,” Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said.

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 centers in countries such as Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Niger and Tunisia. European Union funds would be used to persuade the countries to sign on, though none have signaled 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. Zerouali said that about 25,000 have been stopped so far this year.

The International Organization for Migration estimates that 80,000 people will enter Europe by sea this year.

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.

Brussels wants the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations refugee agency to oversee the Africa plan, but they prefer to provide sanctuary to migrants inside the EU.