Leaders from nine southern European nations, including host Malta, convened on Friday, collectively calling upon the European Union to expedite the finalization of a new migration and asylum agreement.

The urgent gathering also emphasized the necessity of intensifying efforts to prevent migrant departures from North Africa, particularly Libya, where yet another tragic shipwreck unfolded.

In a recent maritime incident off Malta’s southern neighbour, Libya, a Libyan coast guard boat forcefully collided with a small dingy carrying approximately 50 migrants, leading to a catastrophic situation in the Mediterranean Sea, as reported by a sea rescue group.

The summit brought together Malta, along with Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia, and Spain.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stressed the importance of EU member countries taking control of their borders and reducing the influence of human smugglers in determining who enters the 27-nation bloc.

Mitsotakis emphasized the need for EU members to focus on repatriating individuals who do not qualify for asylum while simultaneously establishing organized and legal pathways for migration.

Malta’s Prime Minister, Robert Abela, the host of the summit, highlighted the urgency of expediting the repatriation process for failed asylum seekers.

“Currently, the lack of repatriation accords with countries of origin allows many migrants to simply fade away and head north in search of family and work,” Abela said.

“But ultimately the issue needs to be tackled at the source. To help achieve that, we underline the need to urgently build more robust, comprehensive partnerships with all our partners in the southern Mediterranean.”

“The European Union as a bloc must strengthen its response by beefing up surveillance operations of Europe’s external borders to prevent departures and break up human trafficking networks,” Abela said in a resolute call to action.

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