At their informal meeting in Valletta on Friday 3 February, the EU heads of state and government adopted, as agreed, a statement on managing the migrant situation in the central Mediterranean and measures to be taken to prevent migrant departures from Libya – from where 90% of the migrants arriving on the Italian coast set off.
In the view of Malta’s Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, this is a “very important step”, even if, alone, it will certainly not be enough to settle the problem,...