European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker will meet a small number of member state leaders, including Malta’s Joseph Muscat, to informally discuss migration policy concerns ahead of an EU Summit next week.
Mr Juncker announced that he had scheduled a meeting to discuss the matter and invited leaders of “interested member states” to attend. The meeting is scheduled to take place next Sunday in Brussels.
Replying on Twitter, Dr Muscat said he welcomed the invitation and looked forward to “contribute to the debate and action on a coordinated European response” to migration.
I have accepted @JunckerEU invitation for an informal meeting on #migration ahead of #EUCO. #Malta was and will remain consistent with its principles, and looks forward to contribute to the debate and action on a coordinated European response -JM #MigrationEU
— Joseph Muscat (@JosephMuscat_JM) June 20, 2018
Migration is expected to top the agenda of an official EU Summit scheduled for next week. A draft statement of the summit leaked to Reuters on Tuesday suggested that member states want to create “regional disembarkation platforms” outside EU borders, where asylum seekers can have their claims processed before making the journey to Europe.
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