Informal Summit Held Between EU Leaders for Migration Issue in Brussels

Leaders from a group of member states of the European Union (EU) gathered Sunday in Brussels for an informal summit to find a solution to the migration issue, which has fueled divisions across the bloc in the past several years.

The informal talks, convened by European Commission President Jean Claude-Juncker, is expected to lay the groundwork for the EU summit slated for June 28-29, when the reform of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) will feature prominently on the agenda.

However, leaders at the gathering had different concerns: countries at the forefront of the crisis such as Italy are seeking more assistant and an equal quota system; countries in the north such as Germany hopes to limit the number of migrants arriving in southern European countries and prevent "secondary migration".

German Chancellor Angela Merkel revealed before the meeting that one large part of Sunday's discussions would be protecting the outside borders and how to reduce illegal migration to Europe.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said his country would put forward a new proposal to manage the migration issue in an effective and sustainable manner.

French President and other leaders agreed that all EU countries should work towards a solution to the political crisis.

After the meeting, Xavier Bettel, Prime Minister of Luxembourg, told reporters that the migrant issue is a common threat to all EU members that requires "not a national problem but a European problem."

"We all are convinced that we need common solutions, there is no national solution. And for the moment we see every country trying to find their own solution, this is really not the Europe I want. We need to find common solutions, because it's not a national problem but a European problem," he said.

Since Mediterranean arrivals spiked in 2015, when more than a million refugees and migrants reached the EU. Leaders in the bloc have been at odds over how to handle them.

The issue has recently returned to the fore on EU agenda as a war of words broke out between France and Italy over a rescue ship loaded with 629 migrants.

The ship eventually docked in a Spanish port after being turned away by Italy, whose new right-wing, populist coalition government has taken a hardline stance on immigration.

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