The leaders of nine Mediterranean and southern European countries, including France’s Emmanuel Macron and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, meet Friday in Malta for talks set to focus on migration.
The summit comes a day after the UN refugee organisation said more than 2,500 migrants had perished or disappeared attempting to cross the Mediterranean so far this year — substantially more than at the same point in 2022.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who will be at the Malta summit, included the possible expansion of naval missions in the Mediterranean in a 10-point action plan this month in Lampedusa.
The “Med 9”, which brings together Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain, is expected to call for greater investment by the bloc in the so-called Southern Neighbourhood.
The leaders will also discuss regional challenges posed by natural disasters — following a devastating earthquake in Morocco, flood disaster in Libya, and extreme weather events in Southern Europe.
The summit comes as EU interior ministers finally made headway Thursday on new rules for how the bloc handles asylum seekers and irregular migrants, with a deal expected in the coming days.
Long in the works, there was new impetus to reach a deal after a sharp rise in migrants landing on the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa earlier this month.
Paris is hoping Friday’s so-called “Med9” summit will offer a “clear message” that migration requires a response at the European level.
The EU is poised to agree a revamped Pact on Migration and Asylum, which will seek to relieve pressure on frontline countries such as Italy and Greece by relocating some arrivals to other EU states.
Those countries opposed to hosting asylum-seekers — Poland and Hungary among them — would be required to pay the ones that do take migrants in.
The European Commission said last week it was set to release the first instalment of funds to Tunisia — one of the main launching points for boats — under a plan to bolster its coastguard and tackle traffickers.
Italy’s Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi met with his Tunisian and Libyan counterparts in Sicily Thursday for talks on stopping the boats, the ministry said.
