EU reaches migration deal in crunch talks

EU leaders have clinched a deal to tackle the migrant crisis after marathon talks through the night yielded vague pledges to strengthen external borders and explore new migrant centres. 

 
Italy’s hardline Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte had threatened to veto a joint conclusion for the entire agenda of the summit in Brussels until his demands were finally met before dawn.   

The country’s anti-immigrant government has turned away a series of rescue boats in recent weeks, sparking a fresh political row three years after the bloc faced its biggest ever migration crisis.   
But as leaders left the crunch talks early this morning, Conte said Italy was ‘no longer alone’ in shouldering responsibility for asylum seekers.   The 28 leaders agreed to consider setting up ‘disembarkation platforms’ outside the bloc, most likely in north Africa, in a bid to discourage migrants boarding EU-bound smuggler boats.   

A bleary-eyed Angela Merkel, under intense political pressure at home, praised leaders for reaching an agreement but admitted the bloc still had ‘a lot of work to do to bridge the different views.’   

The deal may end up saving the German Chancellor’s job after she was handed an ultimatum from her coalition partners to find a Europe-wide solution to the crisis.   
Brussels (dpa),Jun 29 2018