European Council President visiting Malta to discuss Brexit

European Council President Donald Tusk will continue with his tour of the 27 EU capitals, landing in Malta next week to discuss the result of the United Kingdom’s referendum.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat will be hosting Tusk for talks at Auberge de Castille. Tusk is currently consulting the 27 leaders on their ideas and expectations ahead of the Bratislava summit.

Tusk wants the Bratislava summit “to bring back the political control” of the European Union’s common future.

Tusk is expected to remind each leader that the EU, together with the member states, demonstrates its “strong determination and ability” to discuss and address irregular migration, terrorism and fear of globalisation.

Tusk will be pushing for member states to secure their external borders, “a necessary precondition for a common European asylum policy”.

“In Bratislava I would like to see a critical number of Member States sending border guards and equipment to help Bulgaria protect its border with Turkey,” Tusk said earlier this week, ahead of his meeting with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven.

“This would be a concrete example of support to an EU country that is seeing more migrants trying to cross illegally into the EU. And it would be an important signal that we are serious and will not hesitate to act if and when needed. Never again can we allow our borders to be overrun by waves of irregular migrants as in 2015.”