Valletta – EU leaders are meeting in Malta on Friday to find a way to stem the flow of migrants through the Mediterranean and show unity in the face of the upcoming Brexit negotiations and growing anti-EU sentiments.
However, the EU found itself under pressure from both inside and outside of the bloc, including increasingly complicated relations with long-term ally the U.S.
The first point on the agenda at Friday’s meeting would be a discussion on migrants entering Europe through the Mediterranean.
At the meeting, all 28 countries of the bloc would be represented at the session.
Leaders are expected to take measures to strengthen Libya’s ability to stop migrants on its territorial waters and create better conditions at refugee camps in the country.
Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni and his Libyan counterpart Fayez al-Sarraj signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at curbing illegal migration across the Mediterranean on Thursday in Rome.
The memorandum said the two countries would work to strengthen Libyan institutions, including the coast guard and border patrol.
On Friday, 27 heads of state and government countries would hold talks focusing on the bloc’s future after Brexit.
Report says British Prime Minister Theresa May will not be present.
“However, May does plan on briefing EU leaders on her meeting recently with U.S. President Donald Trump, who gave her a guarantee that he was 100 per cent supportive of NATO,’’ British officials said on Thursday.
The U.S. president had previously questioned the alliance’s effectiveness.
Just days before the meeting in the EU’s smallest member state, European Council President Donald Tusk urged leaders to unite, warning of threats to the bloc’s future, including “worrying declarations” by Trump.
“The disintegration of the European Union will not lead to the restoration of some mythical, full sovereignty of its member states.
“Only together can we be fully independent,’’ Tusk wrote in a letter.