Valletta: European Union leaders agreed a plan to curb mass migration from Libya at a special summit in Malta on Friday that was overshadowed by the challenges of Donald Trump and Brexit.
Faced with a surge in migrants this spring, the 28 leaders backed steps, including helping the Libyan coastguard to stop boats to Italy and setting up temporary camps in the north African state.
But they will also, without Prime Minister Theresa May, discuss the future of the bloc at a turning point with Britain set to leave, and an increasingly difficult geopolitical situation with the new US administration.
French President Francois Hollande lashed out at Mr Trump, who has predicted that other countries will follow Britain out of the EU and branded the transatlantic Nato military alliance obsolete.
The key issue for Europe on Friday was tackling the Libyan migration route, having already largely shut the route Syrian refugees have taken to Greece over the Aegean, thanks to a controversial deal with Turkey.
That deal provides for the establishment of EU-funded but Libyan-run camps to house migrants pending their “voluntary return or repatriation” to their home countries. Italy committed to funding medical services for the camps.
