(AFP) EU leaders vowed Thursday to intensify talks with Egypt and other North African countries on how to curb flows of illegal migrants to Europe and to fight those who traffic them.
European Council President Donald Tusk said the leaders meeting in the Austrian city of Salzburg have also agreed to attend a summit with their Arab counterparts in February to tackle migration, among other issues.
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said all EU leaders backed the plan to engage more with North African Arab countries and noted that Egypt, at least, is “ready to intensify talks with the European Union.”
“I believe that this will be an important further step in the fight against illegal migration, but above all also in the fight against the business of traffickers,” Kurz told reporters earlier.
