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Prime Minister describes the past week as a historic one in which European leaders sought to address the concerns of the people

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat hailed the Libya agreement as a historic first step in tackling migration to Europe

We did what they used to say was impossible. We facilitated an agreement between Italy and Libya that wont solve everything;but it will help our neighbour to no longer act asa sieve for people who have risked their life in crossing a desert, only to then have to risk their lives to cross the sea and come to Europe, to Malta, to Safi, where they are forgotten, he continued.

Muscat said that he understood the concerns of those opposed to the agreement but insisted that doing nothing was not an option.

People were concerned that nobody was listening to them. These are good families, families that want to help but who cannot do so if the numbers are too big.

While Europe had an obligation to help those who are being bombed and who are suffering persecution, Muscat said that anyonecoming in search a better job needed to pass through official channels. The European Union is coming to its senses and working to solve this problem, he said, adding that the agreement will also see help being given to third countries.

Now that we have started making progress we must work on the second part. We must now set up humanitarian corridors for these people. If you deserve to be given refuge, you should be able to get on a plan to start a new life.

Onthe newly-announceddevelopment of a new 315-room luxury hotel to be built on the former Institute of Tourism Studies site at St Georges Bay, Muscat emphasised that this is further proof of the governments commitment to creating employment and driving economic growth.

In the week where everyone thought we were only thinking of international affairs, we got the largest local investment ever seen in Malta. Even better than that, it will be creating 1,500 new jobs.

According to Muscat, such a project will be bringingtourists that paymore, and this means that employers will have to pay employees more for their services. In addition to this, he said that the project will also contribute to developing a better service industry, with better quality jobs.

Turning to criticism over the governments valuation of the land the hotel will be developed on, Muscat said that the government had not estimated the value itself. For the first time, we got one of the best auditing agencies to estimate the value of the land. They gave a professional estimate, the likes of which the country has never seen.

Furthermore, he said that a clause had been introduced to ensure that if the value of the land changes in the future, the government will beentitled to more money. If today, you can build 100 flats that is the price, but if that changes and you can build 120 flats in the future, you must pay more. This is how we protect the nations assets, he stressed.

Briefly addressing criticism levelled against him by the opposition some over his visit to a pastizzi shop with four European heads of state, Muscat said that the government had no problem having tea in a small shop, with the people.

We dont mind this, we are proud to be the children of workers, we are proud to be rising from humble beginnings and to be lifting the country with us.

On the announcement this week, that the US fantasy sports giant DraftKings will be basing a part of its operation in Malta, Muscat said that this was part of the governments vision for a truly cosmopolitan country. This country is capable of obtaining even better results. It can lift itself from mediocracy, this is a country that is capable of being top of the league.

Finally, the Prime Minister said that the government would continue to rise above divisive and negative political rhetoric. Those who have no arguments to make must rely on dividing and provoking their opposition. People understand this, and can see through it, he said indirectly referring to allegations against minister Chris Cardona that have dominated this weeks news cycles.

People are capable of deciding in their own homes, that which is right and that which is wrong. They can also feel that some people are genuine and sometimes make mistakes, as well as see that some people are bitter and intentionally being divisive. My promise is that over the coming months the government will not descend to this level. We speak on the level of those who have aspirations and who are fed up with the politics of division. We want to speak to those who want to work towards solutions.

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Libya migration deal is for you, Muscat tells party faithful in Safi - MaltaToday

European Union leaders at a summit Friday devised a plan involving largely lawless Libya to try to shut down the smuggling of hundreds of thousands of migrants from North Africa across the Mediterranean Sea to Europe.

The vast human tide has helped boost anti-Europe populist parties across the continent that have exploited the immigration crisis to gain voters.

But even as EU officials meeting in the Mediterranean island nation of Malta were voicing hopes that the strategy would help stop the loss of thousands of lives yearly when flimsy trafficking boats from Libya flounder or sink, concerns arose that the plan risks seeing thousands of people marooned in inhumane conditions in Libya.

Much of the plans success will depend on if Libya can be helped by Europe to deter smugglers from operating along its poorly patrolled coastline. Thats a big unknown, given that the internationally-backed Tripoli-based government only controls part of the sprawling country. Libya is beset by rival governments, militias and tribal factions that were unleashed in 2011 after the ouster and slaying of longtime strongman Moammar Gadhafi.

Naturally, were hoping for results, Italian Premier Paolo Gentiloni told reporters Friday. There wont be any miracles, but better management and reduction of illegal migrants are what were working toward.

He said if the plan can cut down on the hundreds of thousands setting off from Libya, it will also reduce the tragedies in which thousands of migrants die every year in the Mediterranean including at least 5,083 last year.

In the last few years, Italys coast guard has co-ordinated the rescues of hundreds of thousands of asylum-seekers and other migrants who were then brought to safety on Italys shores. Most dont want to stay in Italy but hope to reach families or find potential jobs in Germany or other wealthy northern European countries.

In March, the EU struck a deal with Turkey to stop huge number of Syrians, Iraqis, Afghanis and others heading from Turkish shores toward Greece and then overland toward northern Europe. That arrangement involved EU funds of some 3 billion euros ($3.5 billion) for Turkey, in exchange for that country keeping the migrants within its borders and caring for them.

The Libyan government doesnt have the same control as (Turkish President Recep) Erdogan of his territory. We cant expect the situation will change suddenly in Libya, Gentiloni cautioned.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel conceded that Libya doesnt have the needed stability to control all of its territory.

But citing an aid and co-operation deal that Italy signed Thursday with Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Serraj, Merkel said Europe would help by continuing to train the Libyan coast guard and would help Libya protect its southern border.

Migrant trafficking routes in North Africa pass through Niger then cross into Libya across the Sahara Desert.

The EU will also work to make sure there are better reception conditions for migrants. Voluntary returns will be stepped up, and the EU will get more involved with neighbouring North African nations including Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt to contain the inflows of migrants. Brussels will provide an additional 200 million euros ($215 million) for the plan.

But there are deep concerns that migrants could become trapped in horrific conditions in Libya if the trafficking route is cut off.

The EU is yet again outsourcing its responsibility to protect the rights of migrants and refugees with no guarantees about what will happen to them if they are stuck in Libya, said Ester Asin of the Save the Children charity.

Doctors Without Borders director general Arjan Hehenkamp said the EUs plan shows that it is delusional about just how dangerous the situation in Libya really is. The organizations boats are involved in sea rescues, and Hehenkamp said the survivors have recounted starving in Libyan detention centres and other abuse while in the North African country.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein called not sending people back to countries where they may face torture, persecution or threats to their lives the cornerstone of international human rights and refugee law.

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EU leaders embrace plan to work with Libya to stem migrant influx - The Globe and Mail

Human rights organisations have accused Europe of abandoning humanitarian values but Prime Minister Joseph Muscat is adamant that the Libya deal is the way to go

Joseph Muscat: 'First decent shot at tackling migration'

Joseph Muscat: 'First decent shot at tackling migration'

In a press briefing with Maltese journalists late this evening, Muscat and European Council President Donald Tusk reiterated that todays agreement may be the first real pragmatic step to stem the migratory flows from Libya.

Only yesterday, the Italian navy rescued 1,400 people off the Libyan coast.

With Libya on the brink of being a failed state, with dire human rights conditions, Muscat insisted that the significant problems which the North African country faced, are not reason enough to abandon them, but a reason to engage even more.

The Italy-Libya agreement was also endorsed by the Libyan Presidential Council, which the Maltese Prime Minister insisted was a significant milestone.

Muscat went on to add that the next step would be introducing humanitarian corridors allowing asylum seekers and refugees to enter Europe legally without risking their lives.

Muscat said that Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni had informed EU leaders that Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj also signaled an evolving political discussion in Libya, which involves Libyan National Army General Khalif Haftar.

Muscat insisted that one should recognize the courage mastered by al-Serraj in requesting assistance to help Libya patrol its sea and land borders.

This is not a foreign intervention, he added.

"Libya is not a safe place and blocking people in the country or returning them to Libya makes a mockery of the EU's so-called fundamental values of human dignity and rule of law," the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres said.

Patients tell us that in Libya, migrants are starving, harassed and abused the last thing they need is the EU and Italy to join the predators list.

Amnesty International said that the agreement would cause "horrendous suffering".

Asked whether they could guarantee that Libya was a stable country in which the rule of law is upheld, Muscat replied: I can guarantee that if the situation remains as is, we will have another humanitarian crises; fingers will be pointed at the EU for not doing anything; people will still die and they will still be held in camps. People will die in the desert and criminals paid.

The only guarantee is the one first decent shot at trying to get a proper management of migratory flows in the Central Mediterranean route.

Tusk added: Its obvious that Libya is not a stable state but this agreement, and efforts, is to help reestablish stability.

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[WATCH] Muscat adamant Libya deal is the right step: 'Our first decent shot' - MaltaToday

VALLETTA WhenEU leaders began wrestling withhow to confront Russia over its military intervention in Ukraine, there seemed little connection between events in Crimea and Donbas, the ragingconflict in Syria andthe outset of a second civil war in Libya.

As they gather Friday for an informal European Council summit on the island of Malta, a striking new geopolitical landscape has come clearly into focus: a crescent of Russian influence, arching from Donetsk in the east to Tripoli in the west.

Having cemented Russias roleas the dominant belligerent against apro-Western Ukraine, where the half-frozen conflict in the east has flared up in the past week, and in Syria where a fragile ceasefire has taken hold with Moscows ally Bashar al-Assad still in power, President Vladimir Putin has turned his attention to Libya.

For Europe, this raises the worrying prospect that Russia could gain control over the flow of migrants across the central Mediterranean, giving Putin leverage to destabilize Europe by unleashing a flood of refugees like the exodusfrom Syria that caused a crisis in Europe in 2015.

It would have a tap to open when it needs something from us, warned one Central European diplomat.

The Kremlin has showcasedits affection for Khalifa Haftar, amilitary commander who controls much of eastern Libya.

Describing the strategic importance of North Africa and other countries on Europes periphery, the Russian political analyst Leonid Fituni wrote: The worst case scenario for a united Europe would be the formation of a permanent crescent of instability controlled by its competitors and lying along the entire length of the arc stretching from the Atlas Mountains to the Biaowiea Forest.

When Fituni wrote this in 2012, describing a power vacuum along the Mediterranean rim, he could not have envisioned that Russia would be the competitor moving to fill that vacuum.

In recent weeks, the Kremlin has showcasedits affection for Khalifa Haftar, amilitary commander who controls much of eastern Libya including most oil installations and is in conflict with the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli.He made two prominent visits to Moscow last year and in January was treated to a tourof the Russian aircraft carrier Kuznetsov, which docked off Libyas coast on its way home from Syria. From the ship, he had a video call with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

Acknowledging the elevated buzz that these contacts caused, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexey Zaytsev said Moscow considers him one of the politicalheavyweights who have a real impact on the political alignment in todays Libya.

A Libyan man holds a placard depicting a portrait of Haftar in a demonstration marking the fifth anniversary of the Libyan revolution on February 17, 2016 | Abdullah Doma/AFP via Getty Images

In addition, Haftarhas done andcontinues to do a lot to combat the terrorists of the Islamic State, Zaytsev said. Thanks to him, the country has resumed petroleum exports and has begun to receive the resources needed to address pressing socio-economic problems.

Zaytsev and other Russian officials insist Haftar isjust part of a broader effort to stabilize Libya after what they see as the chaos unleashed by the Arab Spring, which Putin blames primarily on the United States. While some EU officials fear its influence, Russia says it is helping to restore order at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed a desire to retreat from the world stage.

Moscow stands ready to support the Libyan people on the path to peace and stability, Vladimir A. Chizhov, Russias ambassador to the EU, said in a statement to POLITICO. Undoubtedly, it is only up to the Libyans themselves to determine the personalities to run the country. This should not and cannot be envisaged or imposed by external actors.

A draft declaration prepared for the Council summit in Malta urged quick action, saying efforts to stabilize Libya are more important than ever.

Many EU leaders mistrust Putins motives, fearing Russiawill impede international efforts to strengthen the fragile government in Tripoliby encouraging continued fighting or even installing a pro-Russian government.Libya is the main launching point for migrants crossing the central Mediterranean to Europe. Efforts to halt such crossings, and the potential for Russia to complicate them, will top the agenda at the Malta summit.

Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat warned that the number of migrants crossing from Libya could reach unprecedented levels this spring, and he cited Russias growing involvement as a reason for the EU to intervene.

There are reports of Russian officials meeting with General Haftar, so the situation is getting complicated, said Muscat, whose country currently holds the EUs rotating presidency, at a news conference.

Migrants, who were rescued by Libyan forces, rest at the Tripoli commercial port | AFP via Getty Images

A draft declaration prepared for the Malta summit urged quick action, saying efforts to stabilize Libya are more important than ever. The Kremlins role in Libyawill be discussed not only at Fridays summit but also at a gathering of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday, saida senior diplomat.

The European Commission has announced plans to allocate200 million to help the Libyan coast guard interceptmigrants at sea and return them to Libya. But some EU diplomats fear an unintended outcome: Because migrant smugglers are active mainly in western Libya, closer toTripoli, the coast guard effortcould push smugglers eastward to territory controlled byHaftar.

The Russian Foreign Ministry insists Moscows main goal is the preservation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Libya, Zaytsev said.

Whatever the motivation, Putin appearsto be consolidating and expanding Russian influence along Europes periphery.

We all know the Russians dreams have always been to have bases in the Mediterranean, saidGeorge Vella,the foreign minister of Malta.

Whether Putins goal is to rewrite the rules in the Middle East, reverse the Arab Spring or stop what the Kremlin has long seen as misguided adventures in U.S.-led democracy-building, he is now a dominant player in the Middle East. In Libya, Putin wasinfuriated by the death of former leader Muammar Gaddafi at the hands of a rebel mob in October 2011.

Europe has been working with the U.N. and its special envoy, Martin Kobler, to support the internationally recognized government in Tripoli. The EUs strategy for halting the flow of migrants across the central Mediterranean hinges on having a stable Libyan government as a partner, much as Turkey has helped cut the numberof migrants to Greece.

The bodies of migrants who died after their boat capsized, on the beach in Garabulli, east of Tripoli | Mahmud Turkia/AFP via Getty Images

Russia, by contrast, appears to be working to end the U.N. embargo on arms sales to Libya and has made clear it wants to provide greater assistance to Haftar and his forces in the east. During his visit to the Kuznetsov aircraft carrier, Haftar was given medical supplies for Libyan fighters. Egypt and Jordan have also expressed support for Haftar and he also has backing from France, which has taken a different line toother EU countries on Libya.

Mattia Toaldo, a Libya expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), saidRussias strategy is to push toward escalation by backing a man who openly says hes not interested in a political deal with Tripoli.

At the same time, U.N. envoy Kobler portrays Moscows role andthe outreach to Haftar as potentially helpful, even though Haftar wont talk to the U.N. and recently refused permission for Koblers plane to land in the eastern Libyan city of Tobruk.

That Russia is in the process of achieving day by day a role in determining the balance in the Middle East and now in the Mediterranean its a role that must be acknowledged Leonardo Tricarico, Intelligence Culture and Strategic Analysis Foundation president

I have no problem whatsoever that other member states use their contact with General Haftar in order to promote this process, the veteran German diplomat told POLITICO, playing downspeculation that Haftar wants to escalate the conflict. I have never heard Haftar speaking of civil war on the contrary, he wants to avoid civil war.

Kobler stressed the positive developments in Libya, such as an increase in oil production to 700,000 barrels a day from 200,000, and the new budget that has allowedthe government to pay salaries and increase spending on other priorities.

Russian President Vladimir Putin during a trip to Hungary | Attila Kisbenedek/AFP via Getty Images

I am not worried at all, said the German.

The Russians supported theLibyan political agreement, Kobler said, adding that he was veryhappy that the Security Council is in unity on the Libya policy.

Some experts view it as a strategic mistake to ignore Russias growing influence in Libya and its relationship with Haftar, seeing echoes of the Obama administrations efforts to work with Russia on Syria.

That Russia is in the process of achieving day by day a role in determining the balance in the Middle East and now in the Mediterranean its a role that must be acknowledged, said Leonardo Tricarico, a retired Italian general who presides over the Intelligence Culture and Strategic Analysis Foundation, a Rome-based think tank.

With Trump, Putin and EgyptsPresident Abdel Fattah el-Sisi already set up for what Toaldo at the ECFR described as possible convergence the new U.S. administrationhas already branded Sisis bitter rivals in the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorists Libya could emerge as a first focus of cooperation.

Both Russia and the Trump administration may see an opportunity to collaborate on one of Trumps signature foreign policy goals the fight against terrorism, wrote Matthew Lester of the Soufan Group, a Washington-based security and intelligence consulting firm, in a report.Should broader U.S.-Russia reconciliation a declared pillar of Trumps foreign policy manifest itself in Libya, Haftars Libyan National Army currently presents the most likely force with which the two countries could ally.

Khalifa Haftar, after a meeting with the Russian minister of foreign affairs in Moscow | Vasily Maximov/AFP via Getty Images

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Russia's 'crescent of instability' spreads west POLITICO - POLITICO.eu

European Union leaders meeting in Malta have agreed on new steps to curb the flow of migrants across the Mediterranean Sea.

The February 3 summit in the island nation also aimed at shoring up unity in the face of the upcoming Brexit negotiations.

The meeting was shadowed by concerns about relations with the United States under President Donald Trump, who French President Francois Hollande said has put "unacceptable" pressure on the EU.

The leaders of the 28 EU nations endorsed a plan to stem mass migration from Libya that includes more funding for the country's UN-backed government, help in fighting smuggling gangs, and improving conditions for migrants on the ground.

Concrete projects include training, equipment, and support for the Libyan coastguard to stop boats heading to Italy, helping the country better protect its borders, upgrading camps for migrants in Libya, and supporting voluntary repatriation for those willing to return to their countries of origin.

The bloc vowed to respect human rights and international law in dealing with migration, saying it would seek close engagement with UN refugee and migration agencies.

The EU says that most of the 181,000 people who came via Libya in 2016 were illegal economic migrants, unlike the asylum seekers arriving in Greece from Syria.

Advocates for migrants have decried inhumane camp conditions in the largely lawless North African country and raised concern that they could be endangered if repatriated to their homelands.

During the summit in Malta's capital, Valetta, 27 heads of state and government were also holding evening talks focusing on the bloc's future after Britain's exit from the European Union -- known as Brexit.

British Prime Minister Theresa May attended the summit but was not expected to participate in Brexit-related talks.

May did brief her counterparts over lunch on her visit last week with Trump, who has caused concern in Europe by voicing strong approval for Brexit and questioning the effectiveness of the NATO military alliance.

The U.K.s Guardian newspaper said May urged other leaders "to work patiently and constructively" with the United States.

But the report added they rebuffed her efforts to act as a liaison between Trump and Europe.

The Guardian said a scheduled meeting between May and Merkel was called off. A Downing Street source denied it was a snub, insisting they had covered everything they wanted during an informal "walkabout," the report added.

On January 31, European Council President Donald Tusk urged unity in dealing with challenges he said are "more dangerous than ever before" in the history of the bloc and said "worrying declarations" by Trump were part of a welter of external threats that also included an assertive China, an aggressive Russia, and "terror and anarchy in the Middle East and in Africa, with radical Islam playing a major role."

Asked in Malta if he felt threatened by Trump, Tusk said, "No, I don't feel threatened, but think there is room for explanations."

"Sometimes, I have an impression that the new administration does not know the EU in detail -- but in Europe, details matter," he added.

Upon arrival at the summit, Hollande criticized what he said was pressure on the EU from Trump, who has predicted a breakup of the bloc.

"It is unacceptable that there should be, through a certain number of statements by the president of the United States, pressure on what Europe should or should not be," Hollande told reporters.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the best way for the EU to deal with the new U.S. administration is to push forward with its own plans.

"I [have] already said that Europe has its destiny in its own hands," Merkel told reporters as she arrived in Valletta.

Trump has faced criticism inside and outside the United States for suspending the entire U.S. refugee program for 120 days, indefinitely shutting the door on Syrian refugees, and barring citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen -- from entering the United States for 90 days.

Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern suggested that U.S. foreign policy had contributed to immigration.

"America has a shared responsibility for the flow of migrants through the way military intervention was carried out," he said, without elaborating.

Still, Trump did have at least one defender. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said the EU should focus on its own matters instead of criticizing Trump's border policies.

"I am watching with surprise the neurotic European reactions to the decision of the United States," Orban said. "The United States is not part of the European Union. It's an independent state -- and as an independent state, it has the right to define its border policy, its foreign policy, and its migrant policy."

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EU Leaders Agree Plan To Curb Mass Migration From Libya - RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty